Violets Do Blossom In Winter
by Sheo Darren
Summary: EriolXTomoyo. ClowXMadoushi. Despite their differences in opinion– and in everything else–, they agree on something: she is who matters. Chapter 10: Wiles of the Fair Sex.
1. The Stage Is Set For The Future

_**Violets Do Blossom In Winter**_

**The Courtship of Daidouji Tomoyo**

**  
A _Card Captor Sakura Fan_ Fiction**

**  
Disclaimer: **I do not own _Card Captor Sakura_ or any of the anime, games, movies, books and other material here that are copyrighted by other people. This is a purely fictional work.

**  
Note:** This is a prologue that sets the theme for the rest of the story. The three major events of this prologue are set thirty years before CCS, during the first movie, and seven years after the second movie ("_The Sealed Card"_), respectively. The main story itself is set eight years after the second movie and will begin with the next chapter. Please enjoy.

**  
Dedication: **To _**Syaoran no Hime**,_ my personal inspirational Princess of Card Captor fluff, especially when it comes to ExT; to **_Jess-chan_**, one third of the Fluff, Inc. trio, who once told her online _onii-chan_ that I writes such swell romances– almost as if I was a girl 00''; and to _**fan of sk** _as a way of saying "Sorry!" This story is for you three.

**  
Prologue**

**The Stage Is Set For The Future**

**  
**The cottage was small and neat and menaced on all sides by rapidly industrializing Hong Kong. It was not the house of one Clow Read. That personage stayed in a luxurious apartment within the city proper.

This little house stood on the outskirts of the town. It stood on prime real estate, but as its owner was very attached to it and had a scary reputation, no one had yet gathered the courage to make a proposal.

In the cottage lived a very lonely woman.

She was dying. She had literally pined herself away through waiting for a certain person for such a long time. She had poured so much of herself into calling him back. And she had nothing to show for it except disappointment and heartache. Her spells failed her. Her calls went unanswered.

He did not return.

As the years had passed, so she had wasted away.

Now, as she lay dying, her life slipping away, her magic almost spent, she still could think of only one thing, one person. And she murmured his name aloud again and again. It was her talisman against the darkness of death that rose to claim her tonight. It sustained her for a little while longer. It kept her alive a moment longer.

Long enough to do what she needed to do.

In her arms was a scarf. It was his gift to her when last they met. The white silk was pleasant to the touch. The scent of it was his and hers. And to think she might have thrown it away! She had to smile at that memory.

**  
**_"There's no reason to give me such a useless thing," she had scowled at him._

_Ever smiling, he held up his hands to refuse the flimsy garment she would have shoved into his face. Instead, he pushed it into her arms. If he noticed that they were now holding hands, he made no issue of it. But she did notice, and she was blushing._

"_Today is your birthday, isn't it? That is my gift for you. If you find it useless, then please throw it away."_

_Smiling, he walked off._

_And all she could do was helplessly glare at him, even as she held the scarf close to her heart._

**  
**She had claimed it was useless. She had kept it nonetheless. In turn, the scarf had kept her company through all those lonely years. It was the only physical memento of him that remained in her possession, her one source of feeble strength and meager happiness.

Now, it would serve her one last time.

She had strength and will for one last spell. She cast that spell now.

Absent was the fancy light show or fancy foreign incantations. That was never her style. She believed that only amateurs used such fancy effects for spell casting. Besides, she had little mana left to draw upon. She had expended so much in her fruitless efforts to call him through her book of magic. What remained now was barely enough for her purposes.

She had only one shot at this.

And then she would die.

As she cast the spell, she kept the thought of that man in her mind and heart. Even if she failed, she would allow herself to go only if he was with her in any way possible.

After what seemed to be a lifetime's worth of waiting, fifteen seconds worth, she completed her final spell.

She had succeeded.

As her consciousness slipped away, as she died knowing that this was not the end, she murmured his name. And she smiled at him for the first time.

"**_Clow Read…"_**

Then she fell quiet and lay still.

Upon her heart, her scarf briefly shone. Then it, and its owner, faded away.

**  
**The years passed. Abandoned, the cottage fell into disrepair. It was demolished to make room for a new subdivision. The people who knew her passed away as well. Their children and children's children found new attractions. Blissfully ignorant about the special woman who once made it her home, Hong Kong grew more prosperous and happy.

And life went on.

**  
"**You actually like Clow, don't you?"

The question froze her in place. Her obstinacy remained even in defeat. She was still with great power. She would never surrender to a mere child who had somehow usurped _his_ power. Never! She'd rather die again than acknowledge this annoying sacrilege standing before her, wielding the Cards of _his_ making against her yet again!

Until that question was posed to her. Then all of her pretenses melted away as reality caught up with her illusions.

"It must be harsh," the young Japanese girl agreed to her unspoken answer, "To have someone you love pass away. Isn't it?"

It was the hardest thing to ask. She already knew what the answer was. What she dreaded was acknowledging it. Because acknowledging would mean that she was wrong. She would be proven wrong. And she didn't want to be wrong.

"**_Did he really die?"_**

The girl looked at her sadly.

_It's a lie! He wouldn't possibly have died. He can't... Clow Read can't... ...possibly have died!_

_All this time, I've been waiting... All this time... I used all my powers to keep calling upon Clow. For years… For decades..._

_And he's dead?_

And then the girl slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry," she admitted, for all the truth was worth. "I'm very sorry."

**  
_"All this time, I've been waiting... for you alone, for so long... All this time, I've been waiting… All this time… Because… because there is something… I had been wishing to tell him."_**

**  
**And from so far away, his voice answered her dejected confession.

**  
_"Water is something that keeps flowing."_**

**  
**And then she vanished, never to be seen again.

Or so they thought.

**  
**Hong Kong was a constant bustle of activity. The shopping malls were perhaps the best examples. Always filled with people, foreign shoppers bargaining with sidewalk and stall vendors, they stood out from the glamorous city with their own particular glittery appeal.

In the heart of a city that never really slept, within the seemingly endless sprawl of an elite shopping district, a girl stopped to stare at a flash of white.

There, almost buried in an avalanche of bright colors and soft cotton, was a white scarf.

The girl had come here to shop for clothes, but a scarf wasn't really what she had in mind. But, her curiosity stirred, she took it out of the jumbled pile for a quick study.

There was something special about the scarf. Not just the softness of the fabric or the clean beauty of its simplicity. There was an ethereal aspect to it that struck her without her knowing what it was, enthralling her without her understanding exactly what it was or why she felt that way. It simply was.

And that was enough.

They said that art was one of the greatest mediums of communication between vastly differing times and peoples. That artworks were capable of conveying unspoken the thoughts and feelings of its creator to an audience so far off and far away into the future.

If this scarf was such, then it was a masterpiece of an example, the work of a genius.

Its plea was short but powerful. It touched the girl in ways nothing else could.

In a sense, it was a reflection of her innermost self.

A girl who was lonely and hurting and needing someone.

**  
**_Take me._

_Take me._

_Take me and make me yours._

_Please._

**  
**"Tomoyo-_chan_?"

"Ah! Mama!"

"That's a nice scarf. Do you like it?"

"Well," she deliberated. "It feels very soft, and it looks nice."

"Then go ahead. Get it."

"But it seems so plain, Mama,"

"Don't be daft. I'm sure Sakura-_chan_ would absolutely adore it."

And that settled things for her.

**  
**"Welcome to Japan," she told the scarf as she reverently placed it within a drawer of its own. "I hope you like it here. There are lots of nice things and people here, and I really think you'd find them wonderful."

Reluctantly, she went off to change and sleep.

Left alone, the scarf stood still.

It glowed.

**  
**

**  
_Tsuzuku_**

**  
**She was living a life that was not hers. But the simple and frank truth is that, deep inside, she is hurting so much. Next on _Violets_: **My Life**.


	2. My Life

_**Violets Do Blossom In Winter**_

**The Courtship of Daidouji Tomoyo**

**  
A _Card Captor Sakura_ Fan Fiction**

**  
Disclaimer: **I do not own _Card Captor Sakura_ or any of the anime, games, movies, books and other material here that are copyrighted by other people. This is a purely fictional work.

**  
Chapter One**

**My Life**

**  
**_She was living a life that was not hers._

_Everyone knew her to be the ever-smiling sprite, constant companion of the Card Mistress, a camera-toting virtual shadow to her best friend's every single move. They would know of her obsession to capture and record every waking moment of her friend's life; of her dedicated roles as a seamstress/adviser/costume manager (though her taste in that last matter ranged from odd to simply outrageous); of the support that never wavered and the trust that was adamantine. They knew of her wide array of talents and skills, of her straight-A grades and exceptional adeptness at almost anything she tried her hand at. They knew and were overcame by the immensely moving power of her voice, of long-lost memories her singing brought to life, of hidden emotions that revealed themselves at her gentle beckons._

_They would know everything of her life and of her, except that they were lies._

_She is living a life of lies. She deceived herself for nearly her entire life, deceived into keeping her true emotions tightly bottled up beneath a mask of smiles and contentment. What others saw as normal to her is actually a false mask, an alien nature she never really wanted to live– except that, long ago, she decided she was happy as long as her object of affection was happy. Lies within lies, games she played by her lonesome self that always ended in the loss of her most important possession: Her own identity._

_For the simple and frank truth is that, deep inside, she is hurting._

_Deep inside, she is hurting so much._

**  
**Daidouji Tomoyo burst into a blissful smile, her video camera catching the exact moment desired. Her subject's cheeks were pink in delight at the sweet ice cream she was nibbling, from her boyfriend sweetly feeding her, and in embarrassment at having such a moment interrupted by her dark-haired angel in white and blue.

"Perfect, Sakura-_chan_!"The angle was just right, and you had your best side yet. This is one of my greatest shots ever!"

The object of her obsession –the girl named Sakura– blushed ruby red. "_Kyaaa! Dame, _Tomoyo-_chan_! It's embarrassing!"

"It is not!" answered the other in that darling way when denying something in order to justify what she wanted. "Think of it, Sakura-_chan_: I can add this to my compilation of your best moments. When we're older and have children, we can show this to them and say, 'Here is your Mama when she was younger. Look how cute her pink cheeks are!' Wouldn't it be wonderful to have memories like those?"

"She has a point," Sakura's boyfriend put in.

The problem was that Tomoyo always had a point. If she wanted something, she always got it. If she wished to accomplish something, consider the deed done before she even started her sales pitch. Stopping her was a lost cause. Arguing with her was like debating with a Jesuit priest; you were always outgunned. She was an irresistible, unstoppable and absolutely cute force that no power on Earth was able to stay.

Not to say that she was spoiled or bratty or schemed for her own selfish purposes. She was a complete angel in every tiny detail of her mannerism and persona. She had never wished anyone ill ever in her life, not even anything remotely hurtful as a broken fingernail or unruly hair in the morning. She desired the best out of everyone in all they did (especially when it concerns a certain second cousin she knew and loved so much), no strings and preconditions attached– save that they simply keep on smiling despite everything. In the words of one of her observant friends, Tomoyo was 'the person you just love to love and hate to hate.'

So, Kinimoto Sakura simply smiled and asked "Can I have a copy?"

"Of course!" Her friend was gracious in victory and even more so in her rare defeats. "How would you like it: VCD or DVD?"

"I think DVD will do," suggested Syaoran Li. Sakura nodded her assent.

Now that was a surprise. The two of them did not always agree on things. In fact, they rarely agreed. It was one of the unbreakable laws of the world that Sakura and Li would somehow always come at odds over the slightest matters. But it was all the more fun for Tomoyo, who aptly put it as, 'the relationship between husband and wife.'

"Great! I'll make you a copy as soon as I finish it."

"I'll hold you to that promise, Daidouji."

"You can rely on me, Li," she assured him. "So, where do we go next?"

After a moment of thought, Li suggested that the bump cars would be a fun try.

"I like the Ferris wheel more," opined Sakura.

"After I nearly got killed on it eight years ago?" tartly growled Syaoran. "No way am I going near that thing again!"

"Well, your bump cars are really just some oversized Matchboxes you boys like to fantasize over!" his girlfriend returned just as sourly.

"At least 'those Matchboxes' don't go off trying to kill you! And for your information, I never had any Matchbox cars, ever!"

"Then go buy yourself some!"

In a moment, Sakura and Li had completely switched from their loving mood to an 'at-odds' phase, arguing the matter so fiercely that anyone who didn't know them would have been very surprised by the turn of events, they had seemed so perfectly loving a moment ago.

_Then again,_ thought Tomoyo, contritely grinning at her bickering friends and capturing every moment of it on digital film, _maybe not._

**  
**It might have taken centuries just to get Sakura to accept Syaoran's proposal or vice versa. In the end, they decided to follow Tomoyo's very sensible choice: the mirror house.

Li was still grumbling even after he had paid for all three and entered. "I don't know what's into you, going into every ride that Card of yours decided to throw at us back then."

"Void was lonely," Sakura protested. "She didn't want to feel like that ever again. You have to look at it from her viewpoint; then maybe you'd understand her."

"Her viewpoint's darned weird, all right. Couldn't she just talk to us about her loneliness instead of tossing the entire amusement park at us?"

"She was very confused! How could you talk clearly with a confused person?"

"Confused enough to zap both Yue and Keroberos, and before them Tomoyo over here, and my cousin and our friends and everyone in Tomoeda as well?"

"Hey! She said she was really sorry! Kero-_chan_ and Yukito-_kun_ forgave her already! Meili-_chan _did too. As for Tomoyo–"

"I have totally nothing against Void, I understood why she did that," was the immediate reply, the better to avoid being dragged into the simmering argument. Besides, that was really her honest position.

"See, Tomoyo-_chan_ agrees with me!" Sakura grinned in victory.

_Score one for Sakura,_ thought Tomoyo, who was keeping mental track of the debate. Peripherally she noticed Syaoran giving her a look reserved for traitors and enemy spies. As way of contrition, she offered a ho-ho-ho laugh. His glare became darker.

That was when the giant rabbit head happened upon them.

The startled Sakura squeaked in fright at the giant apparition. Immediately forgetting their quarrel, Li protectively put himself between her and this weird threat while the mystified Tomoyo stared at the rabbit thing and wondered what it was doing here. Things like this happened a lot, and usually whenever she was with Sakura and Syaoran. The two were magnets for trouble of the supernatural kind. Not to mention the weird kind.

"_Ohayou_, Li-_kun_!" greeted the giant bunny. "_Ohayou_, Sakura-_chan_, Tomoyo-_chan_!"

Everyone recognized that voice. Especially Li, who had been suckered one too many times by it.

"Yamazaki!" Another familiar voice echoed from somewhere in the mirror hall. At that call, the rabbit took off its oversized head.

"You!" burst out Sakura and Syaoran.

It was Takashi Yamazaki all right, sporting his goofy smile and perpetually happy eyes. The rabbit head was but a mask he had held up as cover for his identity.

"Do you like my mask?" He grinned. "I got it from a booth outside. It's a real bargain, you should try it!"

"Why did you scare us like that?" demanded Sakura. Syaoran's query was even angrier.

"What's up with you, you nut? Are you trying to scare off all your friends?"

"Did I really scare you?" Yamazaki seemed convincingly puzzled. "I thought that after all you guys have been through, what I did wouldn't affect you, am I right?"

There was murder in Li and Sakura's eyes. The two looked ready to forcibly rearrange Yamazaki's face by vile means. Even Tomoyo thought they really were going to do something violent, they were so angry.

"Did you know," Yamazaki suddenly piped up as he backed away, "About the story of the mirror house?"

"That won't save you this time, pal," growled Syaoran.

"Really? But the story is very interesting and ultimately true."

"We'll consider it at your funeral," Sakura answered as she menacingly (but cutely) approached.

"You see–"

They were ready to maul him.

"–Did you know that you can learn if your love is faithful to you inside a mirror house?"

"Huh?" went Sakura and Syaoran, their outstretched hands only millimeters from Yamazaki's neck.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yamazaki quickly spun his tale of how a couple could tell if they were really loyal to each other by standing in a mirror house while holding hands and intently looking at their reflections while thinking of their love. As usual, the preposterous yarn completely conned his audience. Sakura and Syaoran immediately did as they had been told.

"I don't see anything strange."

"Me, too."

Indeed, their reflections were perfectly normal.

"So that means you are very faithful to each other," finished Yamazaki. "It also means that you are destined for each other."

"But we knew that long ago," was the loving agreement, Sakura and Syaoran eyeing each other happily now.

"Perfect!" Tomoyo's exclamation startled the couple's darling moment. She held up her camera once more and put a hand to her heart in a fulsome gesture of delight. "I got a beautiful shot of the two of you looking at each other so lovingly! This is one of my best, ever!"

Sakura was, as usual, very embarrassed. "Tomoyo-_chan_!"

"Takashi!"

Into view came a furious Mihara Chiharu.

Correction: A **_very_** furious Mihara Chiharu.

"Takashi, you'd better have a good reason why you left me back there all alone!" The _or else_ part was not needed. Chiharu was practically on fire, her two pig-tails standing on end like the fur of an angry cat.

"Sorry, Chii-_chan_." That was Yamazaki's pet name for her. "You see, I saw Sakura-_chan_ and Li-_kun_ over here a while ago, so I decided to show them my mask–"

"Again?" She was even angrier than Sakura and Syaoran earlier. "That's the millionth time you've done that to people in this mirror house!"

"Actually, it's the fifteenth."

"You've been here for some time now, had you?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yamazaki over here invited me to go in," complained Chiharu, "And I went along because I thought it was nice for the two of us to be alone together for a while. Until this jerk–" she jabbed a finger at her boyfriend then, "–left me!"

"Did you know why finger-pointing was bad?" Yamazaki began. "It started from the time–"

Chiharu cut him short by throttling him.

Tomoyo worked her video cam again to tape their wrangling. Chiharu and Yamazaki made Sakura and Syaoran's earlier misunderstanding looked like the epitome of a respectful and totally loving relationship. Anyone who had met them just then would be put hard to believe they were really boyfriend and girlfriend –or even friends, at that– but their cat-and-mouse relationship dated back to kindergarten, endured through elementary and blossomed during high school. The good things in life really took time to unfold and came from the strangest places. The thought earned Tomoyo a smile, even as she recorded Sakura's half-hearted attempt to dissuade Chiharu while Li rolled his eyes at the entire affair.

**  
**All good things must end. At sunset, the five friends –Sakura had managed to calm Chiharu and save Yamazaki's life, no mean feat– bade each other farewell and went their own separate ways. At Sakura's invitation, Li escorted her home, where he would eat dinner before going back to the hotel he stayed at. As much as Tomoyo wanted to catch the walk home and the dinner itself on video, she understood that her friends needed some privacy.

Her van was parked near the entrance. Bidding goodbye to her friends, she made straight for the big vehicle and hopped in. It was a quiet ride home. Her bodyguards –the WIB or "Women in Black"– were not really people prone to talking a lot, especially light bantering with their employer. It was something Tomoyo decided to rectify in the near future.

Immense wealth has its advantages and disadvantages. Advantages were all sorts of conveniences and luxuries others could only dream of. Bodyguards, nice house, anything money could buy.

Disadvantages? Were there?

Yes. Of course there were.

It was a rare thing to catch Daidouji Sonomi. But here she was, waiting at the entrance of their palatial home, welcoming her daughter home.

"_Okaerinasai,_ Tomoyo-chan!"

"_Tadaima."_

**  
**_I'm home._

_Am I?_

**  
**"How was your outing?"

"It was great. I got lots of shots of Sakura and Syaoran, and the park attractions were enjoyable."

"I'm happy that you and your friends enjoyed yourselves." Her mother was honestly pleased. "Come inside already, dinner's being prepared."

She smiled back. "Yes, Mama_."_

**  
**Alone in her room, the private domain sacred to her heart and soul, Tomoyo meticulously began a ritual started seven years ago, shortly after her eleventh birthday– the day she finally released her beloved cherry blossom love.

The day that she died…

Off went the dress worn for that stroll in the park, shed as the mere pretensions she saw and knew them to be. On went a new set of garments, unspoiled, unruffled by another day of playing games with one's heart and emotions. If the color of clothing mirrored their wearer's external appearance, her entire collection would be a scintillating cascade of dazzling rainbow colors. But if it were matters of the heart that mattered, then they would all be a melancholy blue– or black altogether.

For her, the latter was the sad truth of her life.

She stood in front of the mirror and gazed at her self, at her face and frame. Her reflection bore the image of a young woman who retained the innocence of her childhood upon her smile and eyes. A girl approaching her majority, barefooted, a diaphanous nightgown gently draped upon her slender form as birds would daintily perch upon tree branches, violet-black tresses a murky waterfall of hair, lilac eyes so full of feigned life. She caressed her cheek and sighed.

For she was one lost in a dream existence that was of her own making. The image that was really hers was of a frail, lonely girl, adrift upon a sea with only a forlorn hope as her anchor, a soul astray within the eternal emptiness that was her quintessence, waiting in vain for the day she would find true love returned to her…

**  
_Child..._**

**  
**Without thinking, without being truly conscious of it, she approached her closet. Almost as if she was in a trance, she took out from its comfortable home a flimsy white cotton scarf.

It was both ordinary and unique. Tomoyo had seen it on a shopping trip to Hong Kong eight years ago. Lost in a multicolored mass of fancier brethren, the flash of fair white somehow caught her attention. After studying and feeling it for a while, she had wondered aloud if it would look nice on her. Her mother promptly agreed. When she protested on grounds of it being plain, all Sonomi had to do was broach the subject of Sakura's opinion. That was the end of her protests.

And now here it was. And it was hers.

She held it to her heart and her face, closed her eyes and thought of the love she had been looking for all her life, found that feeling she so desired somehow returned to her by this wisp of white.

"I need you," she murmured to the scarf. "I do not want to be alone. I _am_ alone, but I don't want to be alone or to stay alone. And so I need you all the more so now.

"Please. Be with me."

**  
_Yes…_**

_**I know…**_

**  
**"Tomoyo-_chan_!"

"Yes,Mama?"

"Come downstairs, dinner's ready!"

"I'm coming."

**  
**In the drawer that was its abode, secreted within comfortable layers of cushioning fabric, hidden by wood and shadow, its bearer asleep, the scarf lay very still.

For one brief moment, unmistakable, it glowed.

And perhaps a voice was heard, a voice of a woman long lost, speaking.

**  
_"Clow Reed…"_**

**_Tsuzuku_**

**  
**A person she thought forever out of sight and reach comes back to Tomoeda– and to her. Next on _Violets_: **A Homecoming of Sorts.**


	3. A Homecoming Of Sorts

**Violets Do Blossom In Winter**

**The Courtship of Daidouji Tomoyo**

**  
A Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction**

**  
Chapter Two**

**A Homecoming of Sorts**

**  
**The JAL Boeing 747 rumbled down the tarmac and steadily climbed into the sky. Its next destination: London, England, a world away from Japan.

One of the figures inside the bustling Arrival Area gave the departing plane a long look of regret.

The newcomer was a youth of eighteen. The only splash of bright color on him was a red necktie. He was dressed in a dark blue polo and a black undershirt, pants and shoes. His spectacles were perfect circles of glass upon a thin metal frame, obscuring mirrors to those who would think to look into his cerulean eyes. His small smile was serious yet accommodating, perpetually amused at everything. You would have though him odd, but not so out of the ordinary.

Luggage in hand, he strode through the milling crowd and into the world outside. A slight breeze darted past, flirting with his short crown of inky azure hair, slightly stirring the leaves of the trees. The pleasant rustle was one of greeting.

Ten paces away was a little girl. In her arms was a flower basket full of cherry blossoms and violets. Upon catching sight of the flowers, the young man's smile grew more pronounced.

He intently looked up to the blue sky. "Nakuru-_chan_, Suppi-_chan_," he quietly addressed, addressing two people whom he cared for a lot, them being so far away right now– and better off so. "Please understand why I have to do this. Kaho-_sensei_," he added, "Please explain to them why I had to leave."

His eyes were closed for a moment of meditation.

"Thank you."

Setting his gaze back upon the path he was to take, the young man took the first step towards the place he had once called home, home from a lifetime long ago.

**  
**"So, Sakura-_chan,_ how did your date go?"

Sakura blanched. Syaoran looked even more discontented than he usually did.

"Not very well, Tomoyo-_chan,_" the former glumly conceded.

"You were lucky you didn't come," grumbled the latter.

Tomoyo blinked. "What do you mean, it didn't go very well? Sakura-_chan_, what happened?"

"Well," Sakura gloomily began, "First of all, Kero-_chan_ popped out right in the middle of dinner! He gobbled up all the food, so I had to cook again. Then _onii-chan_ suddenly appeared, bothering Syaoran-_kun_ as always. Syaoran-_kun_ nearly attacked him, he was so infuriating!"

Remembering the scene he had nearly caused made Li mutter grimly under his breath.

"That would have been horrid," Tomoyo agreed.

"About the only good thing that happened then was Yukito." The poor girl moaned. "_Mou,_ we should have just staged the dinner at your house instead!"

"Great!" Tomoyo now had that dreamily delighted look of hers, complete with clasped hands and starry eyes. "Next week, I can set it up for you and Li, candlelight dinner and all. And I'll be there to record it all on tape. It'll be the best scene I've caught on camera yet!"

Sakura and Syaoran both groaned at the thought of their well-intentioned but obsessive friend recording a supposedly private dinner date. Disaster was once again in the works.

"Sakura-_chan_! Tomoyo-_chan_! Li-_kun_!"

Yanasigawa Naoko and Sasaki Rika –two of the trio that composed the 'Sakura Fan Club' (as Li had secretly christened Sakura's three best friends outside Tomoyo)– appeared.

"_Ohayou_, Nao-_chan_," Sakura mumbled. "Hi, Rika-_chan_."

"Hello," was an equally depressed Li's greeting.

"What's with the long faces?" the bespectacled Naoko asked. "Why is it that you and Syaoran look like you've been fighting?"

"Have you and Li been fighting?" curly-haired Rika kindly inquired. "Please, tell me no, I was planning to enter you as the Best Couple this coming Prom!"

Li grumbled something that sounded like a 'No'. Sakura glumly nodded in mute agreement.

"Oh. I thought something bad had happened to the two of you and you weren't on good terms with each other anymore."

"Something bad _did_ happen to the two of us." Sakura related the story of the disastrous dinner to her two friends. Her only omission was the part about Keroberos' rampaging appetite. Naoko and Rika were not the ones to exactly understand a small, winged mutant lion who voraciously devoured _takoyaki_ as big as he was.

"At least you and Syaoran got to spend some time together," Rika comforted her friend. "Even if it wasn't exactly what you'd call quality time. What's wonderful is that you and Syaoran are still qualified for the 'Match Made in Heaven' at this year's prom!"

"You know," noted Naoko, "The story you've just told me suddenly inspired me to write a story like that. I'll base our next play on that idea. It'll star you and Syaoran, it's going to be a romantic comedy, and I think it'll be a blockbuster hit!"

"Glad to know that you're happy about that," Li muttered.

"Good morning!" greeted the newly arrived Chiharu and Yamazaki. The latter had survived the previous night unscathed. _Maybe he is indestructible, _Syaoran wondered, _or maybe like that mutant superhero, Wolverine, the guy with superhuman regeneration?_

"Good morning, Chiharu! Morning, Yamazaki!"

"Do you have that camera you've been telling us about?"

The ever-smiling Yamazaki held up an old and odd-looking camera that looked thirty years old. According to his long-winded tale, if this camera took a picture of a group of people, then those people would remain friends forever. There had been another such story, this one about a fairy named Mokona who lived in a cherry tree and how it did the same thing for a trio of girls named Hikaru, Umi and Fuu. (_Rayearth_, anyone?)Chiharu thought it was just another of Yamazaki's rubbish stories, but everyone else decided to believe him instead of her, much to the pigtailed girl's chagrin.

Tomoyo did persuade her to join them in the pictorial. "Because you never know," she had told her friend. The indigo-haired girl's undeniable charm worked its wonders. Chiharu agreed, although not before Yamazaki started another of his crazy tales, which promptly earned him a throttling.

Since she was the one with the best taste and skill in the art of photography, Tomoyo received the camera. She expertly directed the group's positions and shot one experimental picture. "It's still in excellent condition despite its age," she thought aloud. "It's as if it's got magic of its own, magic that preserved it through the passing years."

"Do you want to take our pictures," came Li's impatient question, "Or would you like to enlighten us on that thing's hidden history?"

"It does not have a hidden history," protested Yamazaki. "If you want, I'll tell you the whole story again–"

"Oh, for the love of–"

Tomoyo decided to start the shoot before Chiharu dismembered Yamazaki. "Say, 'Cheese'!'"

Even glum Syaoran smiled. "Cheese!"

_Click!_

"Another one."

_Click! Click!_

She flitted around like a wild bird at play, taking pictures at different angles and scenes. Sometimes Yamazaki would handle the camera, but it was most often found in Tomoyo's expert hands. This was her element, where every tiny bit of motion on her part contributed to her final shot, where her perfected skills reigned supreme.

A check revealed there were only a couple of shots left in the camera. "Tomoyo-_chan_," cajoled Sakura, "Switch it on auto flash and join us here."

Yamazaki had earlier produced a tripod. He thought of everything except how to avoid being strangled half-a-dozen times daily. Maybe he really enjoyed it, though. Strangulation, that is.

"In a moment, Sakura-_chan_." Tomoyo moved back a bit. A quick peer through the lens suggested that a shot from this distance would not come out nice. She took a few more steps back.

**  
**Everyday we encounter all sorts of moments.

Some moments are planned and prepared in advanced.

Some moments just come out of nowhere.

All moments are Fated to happen.

**  
**Within her room back at the Daidouji residence, inside the closet drawer it was secreted in, the scarf glowed.

**  
**The edge of the topmost step was old. Generations of human traffic had worn out the gray length. The slightest excess of stress applied upon the weakened rock by the pressure of a person's weight would break it.

And that person would fall.

Tomoyo's heel came down to rest on that eroded edge–

Everything seemed so slow. A moment became an hour; a second, an eternity. Time flew in happy moments. People lingered painfully in sadness. The world goes round, but it never really changes.

Beaten rock gave way under her weight, crumbling into gravel and dust, into nothingness. As we all do in death…

–she was unable to correct, and so fell…

**  
**Li was trying not to be caught in the middle of the Chiharu-Yamazaki war when he realized the danger Tomoyo was in.

"Daidouji!"

**  
**"Tomoyo-_chan_!" A hand to her side, Sakura was on the verge of calling out the magic of her Sakura Cards– even if it meant revealing that hallowed part of her secret identity as the Card Mistress to the world…

**  
**She tumbled backwards. Everything was a blur for her. A small cry escaped her, futile, utterly helpless and hopeless.

**  
**The young man caught the falling girl. She was not very heavy, was a light burden to him. He did grunt a bit as he braced himself to counter her momentum. But who wouldn't?

_Well now,_ he decided, his smile growing brighter with every passing moment. _This is an odd way to begin my homecoming._

**  
**Tomoyo took a few moments to comprehend that she was okay. Someone had caught her. Her paralysis lasted for a few seconds more as she realized she could have gotten herself hurt badly, that she might have caused her friends grief because of one careless moment.

A thought of Sakura in tears came close to shaking the foundations of her already lonely heart.

In a few more moments, Tomoyo began to relax. Her panicked heart resumed its normal beating. She collected her senses and stilled her ragged breathing, letting all of her anxiety bleed out of her with a long sigh.

_Safe,_ she knew. _I'm safe._

"Are you all right?"

There were gentle hands that held her lightly. Tomoyo was wearing a short-sleeved blouse, so she could feel his fingers upon her. That warm touch was so welcome.

_I'm safe in his arms._

"Are you all right, Tomoyo?"

Taking a deep breath to steady slightly unsteady legs, she looked up at the face of her savior.

She was struck dumb by the identity of her 'knight in shining armor'.

**  
**The young man smiled. His cerulean eyes were mirrors of his distinct pleasure. The breeze that greeted him earlier at the airport returned. Hitherto lifeless petals came to sudden, striking life, an ensemble of green and pink dancing all around them.

**  
**"It's been a while, Daidouji-_kun_. Quite a while, I must say."

**  
**Tomoyo could not bring herself to believe who he was.

Bearing her in his protective arms, that eternal smile of his radiant and beckoning as always, was Hiiragizawa Eriol.

**_Tsuzuku_**

**  
**Eriol is back. But for what? Could it be… for her? Next on _Violets_: **Loose Ends Need Tying Up.**


	4. Loose Ends Need Tying Up

**Violets Do Blossom In Winter**

**The Courtship of Daidouji Tomoyo**

**  
A Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction**

**  
Chapter Three**

**Loose Ends Need Tying Up**

**  
**Resplendent, fair features tinted with slight amusement and a faint bit of concern, Eriol benignly beamed.

"That was some fall you took, Daidouji-_san_. Are you all right?"

It felt so unreal. Their scene was lifted straight out of a movie or anime. He held her. She didn't resist. _Sakura_ petals coyly flitted about and around them. So sappily romantic a scene, she wanted to throw up.

Yet it was for real.

"Hiiragizawa-_kun_? Is that really you?"

She feared it was all just an illusion. His expansive smile put her doubts to rest.

"Of course, Daidouji-_san_."

"Tomoyo-_chan_!" Sakura, leading the rush to her fallen friend, came to a screeching stop. "Eriol-_kun_!"

"Sakura." The blue-haired youth inclined his head in greeting, his accompanying smile radiant. "You are as lovely as ever, dearest cherry blossom."

She blushed.

"Don't you start," came Syaoran's tart warning. He was not too happy to see Eriol. Not just because the azure-crowned youth appeared to be making a move on his girlfriend. When the worse (to Li, at least) half of the reincarnation of Clow Read made a call, trouble with a capital T usually followed.

Sakura nudged him with her elbow, a warning to be polite.

"Oh," he added sarcastically. "It's nice to see you again."

Another nudge elicited an "Eriol" out of him. That was it. He refused to budge after that.

"It's been a long time, my cute cousin."

Tomoyo yelped. Without warning, Eriol had slipped his left arm beneath the crook of both her knees before bodily lifting her up into a full frontal carry. Then, once sure she snugly fit in his arms, he swiftly ascended the stairs to where Syaoran and Sakura were.

Reflexively she clutched at the front lapels of his polo, wrinkling the dark blue cloth. He only smiled at her childish alarm.

"It's okay. I won't let you fall." They stepped onto level ground. "See?"

**  
**_Daidouji_ _Tomoyo was not an easy girl to impress. In all her seventeen years, she had only once fallen in love. She fervently remained true to that first romance even after finally letting go of her beloved to her better. As such, she bore the dubious reputation of having dumped the entire population of eligible young males minus Yamazaki over a span of eight years._

_Yes, yes, Syaoran included. Once, in an attempt to get back at her for all the tricks she loved playing on him, the Chinese boy pretended to propose her his "eternally undying love". But Tomoyo was smarter than that. She secretly captured every single second of the 'proposal' on film, then used the threat of revealing the damning clip to everyone ("Especially to Sakura-chan…") to 'persuade' ('blackmail' was such an ugly word) Syaoran to fall in line._

_The ice goddess with a warm smile._ _That was what the boys called her behind her back. Not exactly mean, but it wasn't praise either. She didn't mind. Enjoyed it, even. Did her best to live her title up._

_Only became even lonelier._

**  
**The 'ice goddess' blushed hotly.

Even worried as she was, Sakura did secretly go _waii_. Girls were like that.

On the other hand, Syaoran glowered at Eriol. _Show-off,_ he left unsaid.

"Hiiragizawa-_kun_!" The Sakura Fan Club was no less happy to see their old friend, effusive greetings coming one after another and alongside queries about Tomoyo.

Eriol turned to his distracted-looking ward. "Do you think you can stand up now, Daidouji-san? Not that it's any trouble to me, I assure you," he added politely.

Tomoyo found herself ready for a smile of her own. "No, no, I'm okay now." She did accept his and Sakura's help in getting back to her feet, leaning on her best friend's shoulder for momentary support, trying to get back the feeling and confidence in her legs.

"Hiiragizawa! Great to see you again!"

"How's Nakuru-_chan_?"

"Is Kaho-_sensei_ okay?"

**  
**_They weren't important. These happy people milling around her didn't hold her attention. They weren't part of the reality she called her own. They didn't matter._

_She saw the world through a distorted kaleidoscope, accepting only what pleased her. Everything else, she tuned out. Not completely forgotten or ignored. Not left unloved. But they did not captivate her. Only one person did._

_Once, there was a focal point for that finely honed cyclopean lens. Once, the girl named Kinomoto Sakura was her most important person._

_Yet nine years pass by like the fleeting season wind. Sakura was independent of her now. True, they were still close, she still as important as ever. Best friends forever. But the blazing sun of her cherry blossom love's sky was now Li Syaoran. So it would be until the end of times._

_Life went on. She lived on as best as she could. Alone now, she intentionally submerged herself into memories, into a past she would not –could not– give up. It was all she was left with, all she had to cling on, her only remaining reason for living. Stranded in the faded past, illusions of her memory chaining her to the abyss of an empty life, this was the lonely fate she resigned herself to…_

–_until that shaft of light finally broke through the troubled sky that was her self-punitive shell, a shining ray of hope standing out in the dark, holding firm despite all arrayed against it._

_And the world she wished into existence –the dark and dreary world within which could be found the true Daidouji Tomoyo– slowly began to brighten, now coming to revolve around a bespectacled sorcerer reincarnate who was all too much like her, though both of them didn't know it yet..._

**  
**Seven various flavors of ice cream sundaes later…

"But, Eriol-_kun_," Sakura was saying between bites of her favorite sweet cherry-flavored dessert. The blue-haired youth had offered to treat everyone. His gracious bid could not be refused. "I thought you were in England. I mean, the last letter I sent you was just a week ago–"

"And duly received on my part." He smiled. "Congratulations to my cousin and to you as well. I see you've made out well with each other."

Sakura colored up cutely. Next to her, Li did much the same but also looked proud in a preoccupied, manly way.

"And how have you been, Daidouji-_san_?" Eriol came to ask a rather quiet Tomoyo, directly seated across the table from her.

The girl started, as if just waking up from a deep daydream. "Pardon me? What were you saying, Hiiragizawa-_kun_?"

"Are you all right, Tomoyo?" Sakura worried. After all, Tomoyo might have gotten herself badly hurt if not for Eriol's miraculous intervention.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine." The evasive answer, paired with her usual smile and a dismissive wave, worked wonders in assuring that everything was indeed okay.

"So Nakuru is here, too?" Rika asked, thoughtfully deflecting attention away from the still-bemused Tomoyo. Sakura had suggested the correspondence. Eriol had agreed.

To Sakura, Li, and Tomoyo's surprise, Eriol kindly shook his head. "I'm very sorry, Rika-_san_, but I was the only one who came. Nakuru remained in London to watch over the house and help Kaho-_sensei_."

"Oh." That bit of news disappointed Rika. "I rather hoped she could come."

"I agree, and so does Nakuru."

Behind the cover of a smile, Tomoyo wondered.

_That's odd_. _Eriol_ _went here alone? Without Nakuru, Suppi, or Kaho-sensei? Especially Miss Myzuki?_

Gears began to turn inside her head. It had been a while since her last mental exercise. Now, with a new mental tidbit for consideration, her intellect enthusiastically rose up to the task at hand.

_Eriol_ _never goes anywhere without Nakuru and Suppi. They wouldn't feel right about staying behind. Plus, he and Kaho-sensei are very close..._

Kaho Myzuki. Her teacher. Eriol's guardian.

Tomoyo lightly bit her lip. Somehow the image struck her as wrong. Ugly, even.

Discarding the notion as unimportant, but not without a brief chastisement at thinking bad things of Kaho-_sensei_ and Eriol, she instead focused on solid facts.

_Nakuru_ _and Suppi protect Eriol from harm. If they're not here, it means he doesn't expect trouble to come up– or_, was the unpleasant but likely afterthought, _wasn't planning to start trouble._ After all, the last time Eriol was here in person, he played the role of beneficent adversary to Sakura in accordance with Clow Read's purposes.

_But Kaho-sensei?_ _That _is _something. She's very close to Eriol; helped him with Sakura-_chan_. And not just with magic. Who knows, she might really be his guardian. She should be here, too._

Somehow she wasn't too disappointed with the older woman's absence.

_Why not bring her along? Or, maybe better, why didn't she insist on coming with him? Perhaps she didn't see any need to come? No. She'd come._

_So maybe Eriol wants to be alone? Why? Does he have anything to hide from them? What is he up to? What loose ends need tying up?_

_I wonder who he came back for…_

**  
**"Daidouji-_san_? Daidouji-_san_?"

She blinked. "Hmmm?"

"Are you all right?" Though apparently just curious, Eriol's eyes betrayed a tiny bit of disquiet. No one else noticed. She felt flattered by his concern. if he could easily read her troubled thoughts.

_Could he? Wasn't he psychic or something?_

"Oh, I was just wondering why you went here all alone."

Tomoyo froze. _Oops.Freudian_ _slip._

To her immense relief, Eriol only chuckled.

"That's easy to explain. I guess we can call it both impulse and a need. England is my home, but I have to admit I missed Japan. I felt like I _needed_ to return here." His overt hint of embarrassment struck Tomoyo as truly honest. She wondered if anyone really noticed. "The best way to put it would be a bit of private soul-searching. I just felt I had to be alone this time."

It was a field day for Tomoyo's curiosity. Never had she dreamed of the day she'd hear such lines from Clow Read's reincarnation. If only she hadn't left her video cam at home. Yamazaki owed her big-time for this…

"So you'll be here for some time, then?"

"Yes."

Just so very slightly, her heart skipped a beat.

"Hiiragizawa-_kun_." Halting to rethink her next words, she tried a different way of address. "Eriol. Thank you for helping me earlier."

"It's my pleasure. Tomoyo."

Their smiles and emotions were but false, happy faces masks.

_In that, _she thought to herself later, _we're truly a pair._

**  
**"This is so irresponsible of him."

Kaho Myzuki had several things to sigh about. First, Eriol pulled a fast one off them. Second, there was practically nothing they could do about it for at least a week.

The young reincarnate cunningly planned his departure to coincide with a sudden drought in England-to-Japan tickets. The shortage would last for a minimum of ten days. Waiting for a new batch would take forever. Buying them was another lengthy chore. Then there was the arduous twenty hour flight to Japan itself. Myzuki dreaded long flights. Jet lag was hard on the body, especially if you had less than a week to burn it off before flying again. This particular adventure was going to be expensive, strenuous and stressful all at once.

And _he_ had intentionally made it that way for the people who cared for him the most.

Sometimes, Myzuki just _hated_ the pairing of Eriol's subtle machinations and Clow Read's ability to see the future.

Not that tracking him down was too hard.

An unhappy wail reminded Myzuki of the third and most immediate issue at hand. "What is it now, Nakuru?"

Nakuru's tantrum had run for most of the day now. Considering her relatively short attention span, sustaining it that long was pretty impressive on her part. It also hurt to look at, much more to listen and especially to endure. One of the things Nakuru was good at was annoying people without noticing it.

"Master Eriol went to Japan without me! How am I supposed to see Touya-_chan_ again unless Master brings me along? Master is so mean! Waahhh!"

"You are so immature, Nakuru." Suppi was trying to enjoy _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_. Trying to. Failing. Which was why he switched to scolding his 'partner'. "Kids are far more mature than you."

"I don't care! I want to see Touya-_chan_ again! I want to! I want to!"

"I can't believe she still likes him," the black cat confided to Myzuki, "Even after Yue finally got the rest of his power back."

"It wasn't Yue's powers I was after! It was Touya himself! Really! I like him!"

"Yeah, right. No jury in the world will believe you."

"It's true! Besides, why do you bother reading that book? Everyone knows Snape's the half-blood prince who killed Dumbledore!"

Suppi scowled. "Thank you for ruining my otherwise pleasurable reading experience. Not."

She made a face.

"That's enough, Nakuru." Despite her curt rebuke, Myzuki commiserated with the Moon Guardian. She knew how the brunette felt, having once professed love to the selfsame Kinimoto Touya– and then abandoning him without much warning or explanation during the time he needed her most. It was a necessary thing, but extremely painful for everyone involved. Touya, especially, had never forgiven her for breaking his heart.

Neither had she forgiven herself. Perhaps she never would.

"Don't worry," she promised the tearful Nakuru. "You'll get a chance to see Touya again. Quite soon, actually."

"Really?" At that the girl –as a Moon Guardian, Nakuru did not possess true gender; but since 'she' did go about in the form of a young woman, everyone else regarded 'her' as female– brightened. "It's a promise?"

"Of course. You see," Myzuki calmly explained, "We're going to go to Japan ourselves."

**  
**_Just you wait, Eriol. Two can play your mind games…_

**  
**Alone once more in her room, shielded from prying human eyes, she once more withdrew the innocuous article, held it before her face reverently. But her feelings were slightly different now. She'd changed. For the better?

But she decided to see things through first.

"He's home." Her whispering voice was hers and someone else's. "Home at last. Home, perhaps, for good?"

Silence was its only answer. She smiled.

"Welcome back, Eriol." She spoke for both the scarf and herself. "Welcome back to me."

**  
_Secreted once more within its home of oak and cotton, in the blessed darkness that it wished to burn away in order to once more bask in the world of light–_**

_**For a long while, the scarf shimmered bright.**_

**_Tsuzuku_**

**  
**A doll that looks exactly like him. Coincidence? She thought not. Next on _Violets_: **A Someone** **Named Errol.**


	5. Someone Named Errol

**Violets Do Blossom In Winter**

**The Courtship of Daidouji Tomoyo**

**  
A Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction**

**  
Chapter Four**

**Someone Named Errol**

**  
**Their first outing was at the newly finished botanical gardens on the outskirts of Tomoeda proper. Eriol's vast and intimate knowledge of flora impressed everyone except Syaoran. However, it was Yamazaki's penchant for spouting off ridiculous stories stood as the main highlight of the gathering.

Chiharu made it her prerogative to club her boyfriend for every bad joke or red herring story. Yamazaki did not seem to mind. In fact, they enjoyed their little skit, Yamazaki annoying Chiharu, Chiharu beating up Yamazaki, then the two making up. A cute, if dangerous, pair, they were.

The next day found the group at a homely Japanese restaurant Sakura and Syaoran frequented lately. There Eriol's lifelong estrangement with the _kimono_ ended with him wearing one (colored navy blue, of course). Sakura promptly told him he looked great. Tomoyo immediately agreed; Sakura­_chan_ was always right. Besides, she did pick the _kimono_ in question.

That bothered Syaoran, who took great pride in his grooming and looks, not to mention just a bit jealous at his girlfriend complimenting another guy. But, Sakura not minding Eriol's outfit much aside from the occasional friendly praise, Li finally decided that no blood needed to be shed.

Friday saw the group at the place that had meant so much to Eriol during his short stay in Japan: Clow Read's mansion. Or rather, the amusement park that now stood there.

**  
**"Wasn't that fun?" was the thrilled Tomoyo's rhetorical question of the day.

"I never get tired of riding the roller coaster," Rika agreed. "It's so fun!"

"Super!" Naoko gushed.

"Exactly," loudly added Sakura, who then prodded her boyfriend. "Right, Syaoran-_kun_?"

Li –ever unhappy at the idea of setting foot on the same amusement rides that had attacked him eight years back– nodded grudgingly. Privately he wondered if Sakura would ever truly mature in certain ways. That or nearly getting run over by a roller coaster didn't have as much impact as it used to. _So much for girls maturing faster than boys…_

"Well, Eriol," Tomoyo asked their guest of honor, "What do you think?"

"I have to confess that was my first ride on a roller coaster," was the effected reply. "I had never gone to an amusement park before. So please forgive my ignorance."

"You are innocent no longer," Yamazaki joked.

"That sounds bad."

"Not really." Tomoyo gestured in glee. "Oh, look!"

Nearby was a shooting gallery. Its racks were lined up with various stuffed toys. There was a small knot of people there. Each tried to win the toy they wanted by hitting the appropriate target with air guns.

"I want that one!" Chiharu pointed out a cute teddy bear. "Please, Yamazaki-_kun_, get it for me!"

"I'll need a prayer at the Tsukimine Shrine first."

"What for?"

"Just to make sure I survive your attention if I miss."

Chiharu throttled him.

"Which one would you like?"

The sudden inquiry– and by no one less than Eriol– startled Tomoyo. "Pardon me?"

"Which one of the stuffed toys you would like? Pick whatever you want. I'll get it for you."

Syaoran was already at the range, posing triumphantly as Sakura oozed delight over her new stuffed bunny. At her side, Naoko and Rika admired the cute plushie, yet another addition to their friend's goodly collection of such dolls.

Tomoyo found herself fiddling with her fingers, which she was not wont to do. "But I'm not really into stuffed toys. Sakura-_chan_ likes them more than I do."

"But I insist. Which one would you like?"

There was something urgent and immovable in his gently pressing the issue._ Why was that?_

**  
**_Within the confines of the empty bedroom, hidden from view by the protective doors and drawers of its closet, the scarf glowed bright._

**  
**"All right." Finally persuaded– perhaps by the charming way Eriol put it–, Tomoyo gestured grandly at the prize rack. "I'll be happy enough with that one."

Her selection –a smiling boy doll dressed in blue clothes and wearing glasses and a broad smile– was a hard sell, having an assigned target silhouette that was tiny, distant and _moved_. Nevertheless Eriol paid at the counter and selected an air gun. A long moment passed while he studied his rifle.

"The front sight is a bit off," he commented.

Then, in a smoothly continuous series of motions, he brought the gun up to his shoulder with the ease of one to whom the weapon was a natural part of the body, sighted but a moment and fired.

The silhouette dropped from its perch.

Everyone erupted into awed cheers.

Eriol gave his prize a studious once-over. He looked quite amused presenting it to Tomoyo. "A rather interesting choice, if I were to say so myself."

She immediately agreed. Her new doll strongly resembled Eriol, down to the neat blue mop of hair, spectacles and ever-present smile. It was even dressed up like its real-life counterpart: dark blue long-sleeve polo shirt and matching pants, accurate down to the very number of buttons. But what was most endearing about this plush toy was that it was so comfortable to hold in her arms, a soft huggable meant to be held tight as one slept.

"It is."She honestly meant her lovely smile. "_Arigatou_, Hiiragizawa-_kun_."

"Good shot, Hiiragizawa," allowed an impressed Syaoran. "Where did you learn to shoot like that?"

"Hunting is an English sport." He set the rifle down on the table. "I've no plans to take it up seriously, though." The young reincarnate gave the polished wood stock a slight yet pitying caress. "God gave me an unfair advantage over other creatures in this world. One day, it just occurred to me that my marksmanship wasn't what I wanted."

He gave the rifle an understanding look that was so unlike him. "Not what my heart wants."

Tomoyo felt an impulse to reach out and comfort him. She managed not to. And felt all the more sorry she didn't.

"So," Eriol genially regarded Rika and Naoko. "Which ones would you like?"

**  
**It was a very happy group of friends who departed the amusement park that afternoon. Yamazaki was still alive, having managed to get the teddy bear for Chiharu, the latter now very happy with both him and her gift. Naoko and Rika were profusely thanking Eriol for getting them their own stuffed toys, Rika an owl, Naoko's a tabby cat.

"I am the one who should be thanking you. You had been very kind to me this past week, all of you, helping me out in anyway you can. My gratitude cannot begin to be measured by words alone."

"Tomoyo-_chan_?" Sakura's curiosity had perked up upon noticing Tomoyo wasn't bringing her video cam to bear on any of them. Indeed the trusty appliance had remained in its shoulder bag all day. Instead, she carried her new doll in both her arms. "Why did you pick that doll anyway?"

"It just caught my fancy, I guess." Then she grinned and stuck her tongue out mischievously. "Isn't it cute?"

Sakura blinked. _I didn't just see Tomoyo make a teasing face at me now, did I?_

"That doll sort of looks like Hiiragizawa," Syaoran thought to comment.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Sakura asked.

Her question was innocently phrased, but her fiancé didn't see it that way. Syaoran's forehead creased. "You don't have to rub it into my face."

"Well, _you_ don't have to sound so angry…"

"I'm _not_ angry…"

They were beginning another row, Tomoyo saw. She moved to defuse the situation with her usual efficiency.

Eriol beat her to it. Calmly slipping in between Sakura and Syaoran as a physical buffer, he noted aloud: "I've never thought someone would think of using me as a model for a doll. Perhaps there was one that looked like Syaoran, one we failed to notice."

Syaoran was puzzled by the sudden change of subject. His girlfriend, however, recovered faster. "I have a doll that looks like _me_. It's at home with Kero-_chan_."

"Kero who?" went Chiharu, Naoko, Rika and Yamazaki.

Sakura blanched. _Oops._ "Uh…"

"Sakura-_chan_?"

"Who's Kero-_chan_?"

"Yeah, you never told us about any Kero-_chan_?"

"Is he cute?"

"Kero-_chan_'s her pet puppy," Li spoke up. He tried to sound convincingly embarrassed. "I, uh, gave it to her last week. I wanted to keep him a secret."

"Oh, really?" Rika just loved animals. "Can we see him one day?"

Sakura obediently bobbed her head. Next to her, Li whispered, "You owe me one." That made her blush.

"Thank you, Hiiragizawa-_kun_," Tomoyo whispered to Eriol in turn.

"As I had said, my gratitude cannot be measured by mere actions alone."

"That was 'by words alone'," she sweetly reminded him. Her reward was to see his eternally contented smile brighten even more.

"True."

**  
**_"Today was a very memorable day, you know," she murmured as she held the scarf up in her hands. "He was with me all day long. He even got me a present, one I think you cooked up for me." She fondly glanced at the doll sitting by her bedside, the one with the deep blue hair and sea blue eyes. Christened Errol, it was so much a kawaii copy of its inspiration._

"_You were right," she breathed. "He did think of me."_

**  
**_When she slept, Errol –the image of the boy she was rapidly falling in love with– sat beside her, a smiling guardian presence as an otherwise lonely night went by._

**  
**She thinks over her life and the latest week. She thinks of him. Next on _Violets_: **Past, Future, Present**.


	6. Past, Future, Present

**Violets Do Blossom In Winter**

The Courtship of Daidouji Tomoyo

**  
Disclaimers:** I don't own _CCS_ or the brief quote from _Les Miserable: The Musical_.

**  
Dedications: **molten-amber, asga, NaDiA5o0, SPAngelz, White Alchemist Taya, Mama, Smitten princess confused, Akizuki Sai, Hidden Tala, angel's sorrow, Sanzo Girl MoMo-ChAn1, Alpha Draconis, JusT LooKing ArounD, VampirePeaches: thankees, all of you!

**  
Chapter Five**

Past, Future, Present

**  
**Tomoyo surveyed the vivid emerald canopy that garbed the mansion grounds from the veranda. She considered the past week, her feelings and a blue-haired boy who held both.

Every day, Eriol went out on some new exploration of the city he once called home. Every such venture found her at his side. Always she arranged and coordinated for the rest of the gang, made sure everything ran smoothly.

Just last night she realized something important: her behavior around Eriol was exactly the same way she acted around Sakura so long ago.

**  
_(You never know what it is you value until you lose it.)_**

**  
**From the very first moment they met, Tomoyo decided that the only person who mattered was Kinimoto Sakura. Truly it was an obsession– but a selflessly loving one. She became Sakura's shadow, recording every tiny moment of her cherry blossom love, content with contenting her friend. The lonely girl of amethyst eyes and purple tresses dearly loved her cousin/best friend/object of adoration so, cared for someone else far more than herself, happy to receive friendship and love and little else.

**  
_(The child is only a reflection of her mother.)_**

**  
**Li Syaoran changed all of that. Initially Tomoyo thought him a formidable, but interesting, boy who posed as competition for her beloved Sakura in catching the Clow Cards. No threat to her at all in any way. Too late she realized that Syaoran and Sakura shared –athleticism, magic, a determination to capture the Cards, their names beginning with the same letter–, that the gulf between them might actually be bridged.

Beginning from reluctantly working together to catch the Clow Cards, Li and Sakura's relationship slowly progressed from rivalry to friendship and finally lovers. Tsukishiro Yukito provided a common interest. Unlikely help came from Tomoyo plus Eriol's interference and the former Void Card's rampage eight years ago.

The rest was history recorded within video tapes.

**  
_(She found herself left out in the rain.)_**

**  
**Resigned to this outcome of events beyond her reckoning and power, she went for the next best thing. Tomoyo bent all her strength in keeping Li and Sakura together. When there was the slightest misunderstanding, she became the diplomat who put things back in place. She planned all their dates and outings. She advised and cajoled but never directly interfered. Her greatest triumph: to be chosen to make Sakura's gown for the upcoming school prom, now only a few days away.

(That decision was made knowing Tomoyo's rather eccentric taste in clothing. Friends are friends. )

**  
_(Shadow cannot exist without light.)_**

**  
**Swept up in her desire to delight Sakura, so caught up in deluding herself that as long as her friend was happy she too would be happy, Tomoyo totally neglected herself.

**  
_(As long as she is happy, begins a lie…)_**

**  
**Then, a boy named Eriol Hiiragizawa happened by…

**  
**The fateful day came one bright Monday morning, shortly after Sakura's capture of all the Clow Cards. Terada-_sensei_ announced a new exchange student. Everyone was excited to meet the newcomer from England.

"My name is Hiiragizawa Eriol," smiled the bespectacled boy.

Being a most dutiful angel of records-keeping, Tomoyo intently observed the charming young man make inroads into the life of the most important person in Tomoeda. Sakura and Eriol were so _kawaii_ together, so seemingly meant together, that she couldn't help commenting they seemed destined to be so and so. That she did so within hearing of a certain jealous Chinese boy–until that moment happy with being a good friend– was intentional. Li set off into serious action to win their mutual cherry blossom love's affection.

Immediately following Eriol's arrival was a spate of odd occurrences: unnatural rain and fog, immobile objects taking a life of their own to attack people, the usual problems concerning magic. The initial suspect was both right and wrong. Meanwhile, life went on as normally as possible for the dark-haired girl whose best friend was a _mahou shoujo_: shooting video clips of beloved Sakura, kindly Eriol and resentful Syaoran.

Oh, and helping Eriol connive to bring You-Know-Who-They-Are together, too. Help in matchmaking, however distant and disjointed, was so useful. Upon private consideration, it merited many a wicked laugh.

And so Tomoyo missed the final revelation of truth that dark night at the Tsukimine Temple– namely because Eriol, now revealed as half of the reincarnation of Clow Read, cast a sleep spell on the town. It was her one and only grudge against him. She missed out on all the action and drama! What a show that must have been!

"And I didn't catch any of it on tape, boo hoo…"

**  
_(You just had to be there…)_**

**  
**Not a single worry wracked her even after the truth of the matter finally came out. She knew Eriol didn't mean Sakura harm, happily observed it so to the young sorcerer/reincarnation. "Your eyes tell me," Tomoyo explained once, "Your eyes tell me that you wish Sakura-_chan_ the best in life."

An answering smile on his part: "You're very observant."

And then he left, returning to England, their connection sustained tenuously by little more than mail and occasional phone calls.

**  
_(Absence makes the heart grow fonder.)_**

**  
**And life went on.

**  
_(Without me, his world will keep on turning. A world full of happiness that I will never know…)_**

**  
**But he was back now. And this time, it wasn't part of a sinister plan to make trouble for anyone– save, perhaps, himself. His generosity, courteous behavior, and active rekindling his friendship with the old company, so much invested effort, had no strings attached. This Tomoyo knew, though exactly how she divulged it was unclear to her. She just knew, that was all.

And it had somehow touched her, to her true surprise and… happiness. She discovered that her affection wasn't solely locked on Sakura alone. She could actually afford– and indeed desire– niches in her heart for other people.

**  
_(Is this love?)_**

**  
**This new emotion had so puzzled her, she who long ago decided to be fond of Sakura alone, period, who now responded to Eriol in a most _heartfelt_ manner. She was actually _flirting_ with him, of all things. Whenever he made an advance on any subject, she would be the one to take him up on it. It was verbal foreplay between two people so alike in many ways, yet seemingly content to maintain separate lives from each other.

Except now their paths paralleled.

And there was a wild chance in a million that they just might converge...

**  
**_She took up the scarf from its secure place. "Do I have a chance?" she begged. "Do I have a chance of attaining something I truly long for?"_

**  
**"Hello?"

"Ah, good morning, Hiiragizawa-_kun_."

"Good morning, Daidouji-_san_. What brings you to call at such an early hour?"

"Oh, did I disturb you from your sleep? Maybe I should just call later…"

"No, not at all. I'm an early riser. I've been awake for the past few hours."

"I see. Have you eaten already?"

"Yes. Breakfast is rather disappointing. Bacon and eggs again for the third straight day. Very unimaginative chefs. I find the hot chocolate excellent, though; even better than coffee, I daresay."

"Coffee is bad for your health, you know."

"Sometimes it is a necessary evil." Perhaps a smile came at that comment, if there was not one on his face already. "So, what brings you to call me at –if I may borrow Nakuru's own words– a perfect Yue hour?"

There was the sound of laughter on her side of the dialogue. "She really dislikes him, does she, Eriol? Nakuru, I mean."

"I'm afraid she is beyond admonishment. Kaho-_sensei _is the only person she fears."

"Hiiragizawa-_kun_!" Chortled laughter of amusement, and perhaps a wry grin accompanied that."You're the last person I'd suspect to make fun of Kaho-_sensei_!"

"It's true. Kaho-_sensei_ herself will be the first to agree."

"Well, why don't _you_ discipline Nakuru?"

"My dear Tomoyo, I am very much afraid that I will never have any children in perpetual fear that they will turn up _exactly_ like Nakuru."

Peals of laughter were her answer, but whether it referred to the joke or the endearment of _"My dear Tomoyo"_ was unknown. "Eriol! I'd never have guessed you were such a riot!"

"I'd never have guessed it myself."

"Well, that brings me to the thing I called you for."

"Yes?" He sounded interested.

"Well, today is the last day of August, you see. In three more days– I mean, on the third of September– that is, September 3..." She wavered, playing with the cord of the phone, her breathing so faint that it was hard to tell if she was still there.

"Daidouji-_san_?"

"I'm going to celebrate my majority in two days!" Her words came out in a rush; she simply had to get them off her chest and into the lap of this young man she spoke with. "I'm going to be eighteen."

There was a hushed surprise. "That's wonderful news, Daidouji-_san_. Congratulations."

"_Arigatou_."

Silence on both their sides.

"Will you come?" She was uncertain, as if waiting for the one answer that would spell her path in life from this point on. And maybe it was. "I'm having a small gathering tomorrow, just Mama and myself. Sakura and Syaoran are on one of their dates, so they can't come, and I feel a bit lonely, even with Mama here. I want to invite you, and I'm really hoping that you come."

The last was a quiet plea, in its gentleness overwhelming.

Silence on his part. Perhaps an unseen smile grew brighter. Certainly she felt its warmth.

"You don't have to worry, Daidouji-_san_. Is one o'clock appropriate for you?"

"Yes, yes it is. Thank you, Eriol."

"You're welcome, Tomoyo."

**  
**Kinimoto Touya and Tsukishiro Yukito bumped into Eriol, the latter in his best casual wear and his always-cloying smile.

"_Omae…"_ Touya hated Eriol. Sure, he detested Sakura's fiancé far more. (_Onii-chan_ fervently believed that, monster or no monster, his kid sister should have done better than picking such an arrogant Chinese brat, however rich and handsome.) But Touya had not been impressed as well by what looked to him like Eriol's infrequent flirting with Sakura.

On the other hand, Yukito was delighted. The parallel identity of the Moon Guardian Yue heartily greeted the reincarnation of his Master. "Hiiragizawa-_kun_!"

"Tsukishiro-_kun_. Kinimoto-_san_. A pleasure to meet the two of you again."

"Not on my part," grumbled Touya.

Eriol privately contemplated if the elder Kinimoto sibling had ever thought to compare himself to Li; the two were rather alike in mannerisms and thinking. _Which might explain their quarrel? Birds of the same feather might flock together, but that didn't mean they had to _like_ each other._

"What brought you back here to Japan, Eriol?" asked Yukito.

"Soul searching and blossom watching. I've found a beautiful flower bud this week. It will bloom soon. I daresay it will be most lovely when it finally opens up. It is a disappointment I am not the one who deserves it."

"A flower? Is it a cherry blossom?"

"A violet." The riposte was exasperating lyrical. "Roses are red, violets are blue."

"You'd better not be making a move on my sister, Hiiragizawa," growled Touya, not bothering to rhyme his words.

"That would be most disrespectful of me, Kinimoto-kun. Sakura is my good friend and Syaoran's cherished affection. It would be uncultured and rude to trespass upon another man's love. Beside, Li-_kun_ is an important relative of mine."

Scowling at being reminded of his sister's very unsatisfactory boyfriend, Touya then remembered something –more precisely, some_one_– who always accompanied this smiling twerp and who had always made his life miserable whenever she was around. (Yes, there were people better than Eriol in making Touya's life a living hell.) There was just a hint of desperation when he asked, "You didn't bring Nakuru along with you, did you?"

Asked? No, it was more like desperately pled. And Touya wasn't one to plead. Not on his life.

Eriol held up a reassuring palm. "Do not worry, Kinimoto-_san_. Nakuru is safely ensconced in England. She can do you no harm."

Touya breathed a sigh of relief. "That means there should be no trouble with Kirishima…"

"Ah. I see. Good luck to your date, then," bade Eriol, departing as quietly as he had come while Touya pondered upon his statement.

"I wonder whom he means by the violet bud," Yukito wondered aloud.

"Hey!" Touya just realized what Eriol's last words suggested. "The two of us are not going on a date!" he yelled, shaking a fist at the departing youth. "You hear me, Hiiragizawa?"

"What do you mean by that, Touya?" They were, after all, just going to meet with an old friend from their high school years.

"Forget it, Yuki."

"Whatever you say, To-Ya-_kun_."

_And now my best friend imitates that English twit_. Touya shook his head. _I dunno how things can get worse than this…_

**  
**Not so far away, a new arrival grins with delicious delight.

"Touya-_kun_… ready or not, here I come…"

**  
**She sings with her heart. Her song offers her heart to him. Next on _Violets_: **An Idyllic Melody**.


	7. An Idyllic Melody

**Violets Do Blossom In Winter**

**The Courtship of Daidouji Tomoyo**

**  
A Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction**

**  
Chapter Six**

**An Idyllic Melody**

**  
**_It's every bit as big as Sakura told me,_ Eriol thought upon catching sight of the sprawling Daidouji residence. After a quick self-introduction through the intercom at the gate and a brief wait, a pair of female bodyguards led him down an artfully winding cobblestone path to the bower garden where Sonomi and Tomoyo waited.

The table was set for three, with a teapot full of hot Earl Grey tea and sweet cakes for dessert. In one chair sat Errol, the stuffed toy Eriol won for Tomoyo days ago. "Good afternoon, Eriol," greeted his sunny host.

"Good afternoon, Daidouji-_san_." He politely bowed to Sonomi. "It is a pleasure on my part to meet you in person, Ma'am."

_He really is polite,_ Sonomi noted. "Please, make yourself at home."

The black-clad escorts were dismissed. The trio seated themselves. The very soul of gentility, Tomoyo served tea for their enjoyment. "Thank you for getting me Errol yesterday, Eriol." Said toy now comfortably sat upon her lap, a mute spectator to their conversation.

"It is but one little gesture on my part. I have far more to thank you and the others for having been very kind to me."

"_Arigatou." _She smiled her angel smile and was answered back with one of his.

"Well, then, Eriol," Sonomi interjected, "From what I've heard from Tomoyo, you are a very interesting young man. So, could you tell me a bit about yourself?"

He gladly did so, weaving his usual story about his parents' long absences, Myzuki Kaho serving as his guardian but himself being more than able to handle his affairs. Eriol then went on with a more truthful discussion of his hobbies and interests, one that made a rapt audience of Sonomi. His words enthralled Tomoyo, who was devotedly listening to every tiny detail he spun in his web of truths and white lies. Strangely enough, she could sense which ones of his stories were indirect facts, which ones were completely fictional, and which ones were the plain and simple truth. She could even recognize the vague hints Eriol used to refer to his previous life as Clow Read, hints Sonomi failed to pick up but enjoyed for what she thought they were. It was like Tomoyo could taste the words Eriol used, detect the truthfulness or falsity in them, and uncover the hidden meanings in them.

Maybe because they were so much alike, she could understand what he was really saying despite his prosaic verses and honeyed words that always danced around the truth but never got to revealing it.

Or perhaps Tomoyo possessed something special she never suspected she ever had.

**  
**"He hasn't changed much, that smooth-talking kid," Touya grumbled at Yukito. "Why did he come back here? To flirt with Sakura and mess things up some more?"

"You really care about Sakura-_chan_ a lot, eh, To-Ya?" His friend was all smiles. "Besides, I felt that Eriol came back for something important. He told us as much, just indirectly."

"At least he didn't bring Akizuki. I don't think I can exactly explain it to Yoko if Nakuru is draped around me like a leech. Why, of all the–"

"Touya?"

Touya stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh," Yukito began. "Good afternoon to you–"

_Tell me it isn't her,_ feverishly implored Touya to any deity who might be listening to him. _Tell me it isn't her, tell me it isn't her–_

"–Kirishima-_san_."

All of his nervousness vanished, replaced by his usual grumpy –and noticeably relieved– self. Sparing only a swift sigh, Touya turned around to face the newcomer.

Kirishima Yoko smiled shyly. "Good afternoon, Kinimoto-_san_._"_

"You, too, Kirishima-_san_." He walked over to his former classmate and admirer back in senior high. "Sorry if we didn't notice you. Yukito and I were talking about something."

"It's all right. Why did you take such a long while to reply?"

"Touya mistook your voice for someone else," Yukito helpfully offered.

"Oh? Is it another girl? Perhaps the secret beloved Touya told me about back then?" The redhead was rather merry– and blind to the fact that the very person she joked about was not a foot away and playing along.

Touya glared at his best friend. "Thank you very much, Yuki."

"Is this a joke you're playing on me?" Yoko asked.

"The joke is on me," Touya admitted. "I guess I just broke Murphy's Law."

"Kinimoto?"

Yukito stood very still as the hidden _him_ detected a familiar aura.

Exasperated, Touya turned on the newcomer. "All right, just who is it now-"

His heart nearly stopped beating in pure shock.

Standing in front of him was his worst nightmare.

Akizuki Nakuru beamed. Her huge smile was one little children reserve for wonderful birthday gifts or Santa Claus coming down the chimney. It wasn't her birthday and December was certainly still far away, but there was no denying her happiness at the great gift she'd "happened" on.

"**TOUYA-_CHAN_!"** Straightaway Nakuru charged, flung her arms around his waist in a flying tackle, and promptly dragged Touya down with the force of her hug and their combined weight.

"You!" Touya was beside himself with horror. "How on–"

Her hug automatically increased in strength. That choked off his forthcoming sentence. "Yippee!" The Moon Guardian clung to him like a creeper vine. Words gushed out of her mouth at machine-gun speed. "She was right, I could I find you here, she didn't go back on her promise to me, not like Master Eriol who's so mean at times–"

"Sorry, Touya," apologized Yukito with a sheepish grin. "I didn't sense her fast enough."

"I never should have trusted that sniveling weasel!" Touya snapped unkindly of Eriol. "He probably set me up!"

**  
**Blissfully unaware of his detractor's predicament, Eriol was just concluding an appealing story, of which Sonomi was very much impressed. "Forgive me for having been a bit long-winded," he apologized, despite pausing very often in his tale to drink his tea or take a small nibble out of his cake. "I must have taken up much of your time."

"It was well-spent, I would say," Sonomi reassured him. "You really are such an impressive young man, and I'm very delighted to have met you."_ Tomoyo was right._ _He is such a nice young man._

"And so am I, Madame." He looked at Tomoyo. "Is there anything wrong, Tomoyo?"

"Huh? Oh, no!" She cheerily waved away his concern. "I was just thinking I should have recorded all of this for us to enjoy later on, that's all."

Sonomi smiled. "Tomoyo-_chan_ simply cannot resist missing out on a good shot. She is very good with video cameras."

"I have heard she is an accomplished singer as well," Eriol returned.

"Of course." Sonomi was rightly proud of her daughter's singing talent. Though still an amateur, a number of recording studios were already wooing Tomoyo. "Professional caliber, if I may say so myself." She then turned to Tomoyo. "Tomoyo-_chan_, can I request a demonstration of your talent for our guest?"

The girl blushed to hear him use her name in conjunction with the suffix –_chan_, a term used by people when they are addressing someone dear to them. "Right now?"

"Please, Tomoyo," Sonomi asked. "Show us just how good you are."

Eriol simply smiled at her. That was all the inducement she needed.

"Alright." To the delight of her mother and to the seemingly distant but secretly interested attention of her favored guest, Tomoyo stood up. Errol was left seated in her chair.

It took but a moment for her to collect herself, to assume the relaxed stance she favored, a single breath to prepare for her gracefully mighty effort. Then she began to sing.

**  
**_yuuhi ga akaku sougen ni furu yo_

_hi no you ni_

_yoru no sora ga hoshi wo egakidasu_

_hitotsu zutsu_

**  
**Her voice was soft and tempered, modulated to produce a delightfully pleasant tone for her listeners' pleasure. Words flowed from her lips easily, as water slipping through a meandering course, beautiful on their own, wonderful linked in a beguiling chain of melodies. Such was her power, imbuing life upon her song, realizing dreams for a few precious seconds that mattered above all.

**  
**_hitomi wo tojite, kokoro no naka wo mitsumete'ru_

_dare wo matsu no?_

_chiheisen no mukou kara_

_kikoete kuru koe wo kiite-iru_

_koko ni kite_

**  
**Her audience was enthralled by her voice. Sonomi fell into a deep reminisce of the time when she was as old as her only daughter was now, still hopelessly in love with her beloved Nadeshiko, but this time understanding of Fujitaka Kinimoto. Love, after all, knew no boundaries. Love is forgiving, even of the most unforgiving things.

**  
**_kirameku kaze ga, toiki no you ni yabarakaku_

_kata wo tsutsumu yo_

_chiheisen no mukou kara_

_aruite kuru hito wo mitsumete'ru_

_koko ni kite_

**  
**Eriol had closed his eyes, drawing the song into him, letting it come alive in his own way. Losing himself in the simple splendor of the melody, he unconsciously let his own power come forth. Tiny flickers of faerie fire danced around then, illusionary flickers that drifted in and out of reality, tracing delicate lines of light that wrapped her in an unraveling dream tapestry. She felt their presence, knew them to be his and so drew strength from them and from him.

**  
**_hikaru ishi wo hitotsu kette mita_

_koko ni kite_

**  
**As the last word of the song escaped her lips, she let herself fall silent for a long while. Then, Eriol began to applaud. Sonomi followed suit.

She blushed in gratitude. "_Arigatou."_

"I told you she was talented." Sonomi looked very pleased with her daughter.

"An excellent performance," Eriol said in honest praise. Tomoyo was very happy to hear that.

"I entirely agree," enjoined another person.

Tomoyo went very cold upon hearing that voice, because it was very familiar and one she did not expect to hear. Beside her, Eriol quietly stood up.

"Good afternoon, Kaho-_sensei_."

The woman with the auburn red hair and clear amethyst eyes did not smile back as she was often did. Her expression was neutral.

"Good afternoon, Eriol."

Kaho Myzuki had finally caught up with them.

**  
**She has sung her song. Now she offers her heart. Will he take it? Next on _Violets_: **Fateful Promise**.


	8. Fateful Promise

**Violets Do Blossom In Winter**

**The Courtship of Daidouji Tomoyo**

* * *

**  
Chapter Seven**

**Fateful Promise**

* * *

**  
**Mizuki greeted everyone with the unassuming air typifying her every action. "Good afternoon, Hiiragizawa-_kun._ Good afternoon, Tomoyo-_chan_, Sonomi-_san._"

"Who are you?" Sonomi asked. "How do you know my name?"

"My name Kaho Mizuki. I am Eriol's guardian. Eriol told me about you and your daughter…"

And with that, Mizuki had unobtrusively but completely commandeered the conversation.

A sense of dread slowly built up inside Tomoyo. She still did not know why Eriol returned to Japan all alone. But whatever his reasons, he had obviously wanted to spend some time on his own away from his usual companions.

Such was the fate that brought him back with her.

Now Mizuki was here to end this happy interlude. What took her so long to catch up to Eriol, why she was doing this– those, Tomoyo did not know.

What she did know, and feel, was that it would have been infinitely preferable if Mizuki had never caught up– or existed.

"I apologize for intruding on you without warning, Sonomi-_san_," Mizuki was saying, "I had just arrived from the airport after a long flight from London. I came straight here because I had heard Eriol was here."

Sonomi quickly composed herself. "Well then, _sensei_, may I ask why you had decided to visit us?"

"I merely came to collect Eriol, if you may." Straight to the point, a style she had never used before, and one Mizuki was visibly uncomfortable with. "Eriol?"

As if on cue, he stood up. "Apologies, Sonomi-_san_, Tomoyo. It appears I must cut my visit short and take your leave."

"You can't."

Her whole body rigid, delicately small hands clenched tight, Tomoyo was trying very hard not to– cry? "You can't just take him away like that. Eriol came here because he chose to. It's up to him to stay here if he wants to."

"Unfortunately, Tomoyo," Mizuki told her, "It isn't."

"Is it?"

"There are matters beyond his authority to decide. As his guardian, I am the one empowered to decide those matters for him."

"Is it?" Those words of hers again, but not addressed to Mizuki. "Isn't it, Eriol?"

She thought she saw that smile of his waver for a heartbeat or so.

_What? What was that?_

"There is little to be done about it," Eriol finally said.

"Isn't it?"

"No, it isn't."

"But–"

He shook his head. It muted her protests more effectively than a flood of excuses and explanations. "It's better that I leave, Tomoyo."

Eriol looked into her eyes. Those blue eyes asked her this much. It was a call for her to understand, a plea she could not deny.

"I'm very sorry. Believe me."

Tomoyo looked away. Somehow she held back tears.

"I do."

* * *

**  
**Eriol smiled sadly upon his newly-rekindled friend. He knew how much his untimely departure let her hopes down. He himself didn't expect Mizuki to catch up so quickly. In fact, he was rather hoping she wouldn't follow at all.

Of course, it was a shallow hope at the best.

But even he was entitled to such hopes. He was entitled to a life, too.

_Aren't I?_

_But I am Clow Read._

_I am Clow Read, and that is all that matters._

_A lie is all that matters._

And so he shook off that singular moment of uncertainty, pulled himself together as befitting whom he was – a person long dead but still controlling every aspect of his life– and sighed.

And he let go of that small, soft shoulder, a separation his heart–

_Lamented?_

"Goodbye, Tomoyo."

So saying, Eriol took the first step back, back towards Mizuki and Nakuru and Suppi and England and all that he had left, back towards his life and his home that mattered.

Even if they were as much lies for him as Tomoyo's life was for her…

* * *

**  
**_There is one chance left._

_Glowing brighter than it had ever done before, the scarf's sphere of influence expanded from its hidden compartment and encompassed its owner. Act, it urged, sending a hidden suggestion of one faintly wild possibility._

_There is one chance left. Ask._

_Ask him to choose._

* * *

**  
**"Eriol!"

He halted and turned. So did Mizuki.

Never had Tomoyo looked so pleading, so desperate. It was enough to awaken something within Eriol, something he had almost forgotten in the passing of times and lives.

_My humanity?_

She called him by his first name. The lack of an honorific was the greatest honorific in the Japanese language. Breathless, she did something she never thought she'd do. She implored. Her words were touched by a hint of desperation.

"Eriol, the senior's high school ball is due in a couple of days. I don't have a partner. I was planning to go alone and cover Sakura and Li on my videocam, but then you came along, and I kind of hoped that you might– that you would–"

"A ball?"

Those two brief words, and Mizuki's startled displeasure, fanned that last tiny spark of hope inside her heart to a bright nova of certainty.

"Eriol, we don't have time for this–"

"But I do."

To Tomoyo's hidden delight, the noticeably uneasy Mizuki did not counter.

Eriol looked at her. His eyes seemed neutral but were truly interested.

"What is it you would ask of me?" he asked.

With all the confidence that she had –not the false one that she used as a mask to hide her loneliness, but the true, precious confidence she secreted deep within her heart for a moment such as this– Tomoyo blurted out, "Eriol, will you be my partner for the ball?"

* * *

**  
**Eriol stood there and considered his response.

"The violet bud has begun to blossom," he softly whispered to himself, his tone so low that even Mizuki coudlm't hear him. "She presents me with the chance of helping her open up to the world."

She heard his words. Even as he masked them with the power of Clow Read, they somehow escaped and came into her hearing. Those words restored shining hope into her heart.

"Your offer is a generous one, Tomoyo. And irresistible, I would have to admit."

Mizuki would have scowled, but it would not have fitted her. Sonomi grinned at her.

Eriol smiled his brightest smile yet. "I will accompany you to your ball, Tomoyo."

And those words were all that really mattered.

**  
**"I have wonderful news for tonight," she confided happily. "He agreed to partner me for the ball! Oh, you were right, and I'm so happy that he ignored that old hag to go out with me."

The scarf glowed slightly in approval. She smiled back. "I have to prepare Sakura-_chan_'s gown, I'll keep you for now." After putting it away, she went back to finishing the beautiful gown she promised her best friend for their prom.

**  
**Inside its quarters, the scarf truly was content.

The girl, more so now than ever, was fulfilling her purpose. Slowly, through quiet suggestion and subtle manipulation, she was shaping herself to be a perfect vessel for _her_. The final transformation, the pinnacle of forty years of patient work, came closer and closer.

Soon, very soon, she could return.

* * *

**  
**_A thousand years may pass, but they are nothing to me._

**  
**_Clow Read..._

**  
**Yes, indeed. Madoushi was content.

* * *

**  
**For all their emotional fragility, people prove very resilient: stumbling again and again only to pull themselves together, stand up and keep on going. Next on _Violets:_ **From The Ashes.**


	9. From The Ashes

**Violets Do Blossom In Winter**

The Courtship of Daidouji Tomoyo

**  
Chapter Nine**

**  
From The Ashes

* * *

**

**  
**"I'm _so_ glad to be back here in Japan and with you, Touya-_chan_! Now I'm here, I will never ever let you go ever again, even if Master Eriol tries to make me do so!"

"Get! Off! Me!"

Fortunately, they were the only ones in the street. If anyone saw them, the resulting 'scandal' would haunt Touya for the rest of his life.

Certainly it was a ridiculous scene: Touya on his butt with Nakuru happily wrapped around his neck like a tawny wreath. Yukito was not so much trying to help as enjoying the situation, which showed how weird some people's sense of humor was.

"Do? You? Mind?" Touya angrily addressed both Nakuru and Yukito, the former he tried to pry off, the latter he snapped at for being useless. "Get her off me!" he added for Yukito's ears.

"Tsukishiro can do whatever he wants," bubbled Nakuru, "But he'll never part us, ever!" She stuck her tongue out at Yukito for extra measure.

Yukito chuckled.

"Some friend you are, Yuki! Help me get this pest off before something bad happens!"

Then Touya caught sight of Kirishima Yoko.

To say she was shocked was an understatement. "Kinomoto-senpai? What's… this?"

Nakuru noticed her, too. Rapture at being so close to her beloved Touya was intensified by her childish selfishness. It was a combination patented to bring woe to everyone within range.

"What this means, lady," she told Yoko in a none-too-polite tone, "Is that I'm finally back with my Touya-_chan_ and there's nothing you can do about it. So: tough luck! Go find yourself another boyfriend, because Touya's already taken!"

Yoko's ears prickled at the offered insult. "Tough luck?" Her usual shy tone gave way to a more combative one. "Are you harassing Kinomoto-_sempai_?"

"I'm not harassing him– I'm _loving_ him!"

Touya grimaced in exasperation. "Akizuki–"

"I might just be a mere friend to Kinomoto-senpai," Yoko retorted, "But at least I respect his feelings. Long before you ever appeared, he told me that he had a special someone he was dedicated to. I believe that that someone is very dear to him! When I learned about her, I had to be content with being friends and classmates. But I never begrudged him his happiness, ever." Her green eyes flashed. "And I won't let someone like you trample his feelings aside!"

Touya sensed a war brewing but couldn't escape or mediate it.

Not being very sensible or sensitive to other people's feelings, Nakuru hit back as nastily as she could. "Well, too bad for you, Missy," she shot back. "I guess looking the way you are and acting so high and mighty makes you so superior, but I'd think you'd be better off in an all-girls' Catholic school cloistering with the gossipy ditzes and preening away at your ruffled feathers!"

"Well, I've never been so rudely insulted all my life!" Yoko turned on the hapless Touya. "Touya, if you can't do anything to curb such immature nonsense out of this– this twerp!" –the word being the most hurtful thing she could bring herself to say, even of someone she disliked– "Then I'd be better off elsewhere!"

With that, she turned away and ran off.

Tears ran down her cheeks even so.

It was almost more than Touya could bear. "Yoko, wait!" He struggled to get up from where that pest rooted him in place. "I can explain!"

"Forget about her, Touya-_chan_!" Nakuru's arms just got tighter, effectively holding him back. "I'm always here for you. You have nothing to worry about when I'm around!"

Touya was having none of it anymore. He broke Nakuru's grip, roughly shoved her off and snarled. "Akizuki! Why did you do that?"

It was a first for him and for her. His angry outburst stunned Nakuru. "But, Touya-_chan_– Aren't you happy I'm here? I thought–"

"No, I am not happy to see you! And damn whatever it is you're thinking!" His eyes blazed in uncharacteristic, righteous fury. "I needed Yoko, but you had to drive her away! I don't need complications like this, and I certainly don't need **you**!"

And then Touya was up and chasing after Yoko. Not an easy thing to do since the latter was once in their school's track and field team. He would try, though. Damn if he didn't try– and damn his Kinomoto genes if he couldn't catch up.

Left behind, Nakuru simply sat there and stared at the departing Touya's back. "You– you need her?"

She couldn't believe Touya could push her away so harshly. But what hit her more was his outright rejection of her. However insensitive she might be to other people, Nakuru herself was a very sensitive soul.

_You don't need me? You don't want me?_

_You _hate_ me…_

Nakuru suddenly lacked the strength to do anything more than sit and stare and breathe. She did not even consider going after Touya; he had just told her off, and she couldn't go against him. So she simply stayed in place, her thoughts a total wreck and her emotions even worse off.

For Moon Guardians have feelings, too.

"Are you all right?" It was Yukito. "Nakuru?"

Her head bowed in mourning. "Yes," she softly lied, even as an imperceptibly small but very genuine tear stumbled down her right cheek. "Yes, I'm all right."

* * *

**  
**Eyes filled with tears, intent on escaping the place that caused her such intense unhappiness, Yoko was basically blind to the fact that there might be objects or people ahead of her. That she evaded all of them so far was a small miracle in itself…

_Touya…_

…Until–

"Look out!"

"Huh?" Yoko looked up. It was too little, too late. She plowed into the pair of teenagers an instant later. Everyone went down in a heap of limbs.

"_Ittai…" _Sakura winced, holding her injured backside as she gingerly sat up. "Li, are you okay?"

"No." Syaoran sprawled face down across the sidewalk. The dazed Yoko sat right on his back. "Lady, do you mind?"

Yoko quickly helped him to his feet. "I'm so sorry; I wasn't looking where I was running." Then she recognized Sakura. "Hey, I know you! You're Kinomoto-senpai's kid sister!"

"You're the girl who played Prince Charming in _Oniichan_'s school presentation!" exclaimed the equally surprised Sakura.

Yoko had to smile at the mention of her role in the play. "You still remembered that after six years, huh?"

"Sure we do," Li grouchily mumbled. "Everyone was so impressed by your play, our class decided to follow your shining example."

"Oh, so you were with the Sleeping Beauty group! Now I remember. You," she meant Sakura, "You played the Prince, and he," she pointed at Li, "Was the–"

"Princess." Syaoran had hated script-writer/director Naoko for weeks because, aside from being made to wear a most unmanly gown and wig, the play also included a kissing scene between him and Sakura. A full frontal, lips-to-lips kiss. And that was at the time they were still rivals for the Clow Cards, though by then Li was already entertaining feelings for Sakura. Luckily, the Dark Card's appearance cut that scene short. Else, Li would have gone after Naoko with a blood feud in mind. A similarly murderous Touya-oniichan would be hot on their heels for Syaoran having kissed his little monster sister and Naoko for arranging that mortal sin to happen.

"Oniichan mentioned he was going to meet you today. Did you see him?"

Yoko looked away. "No."

"Is something wrong, Kirishima-_sempai_? You looked sad."

"Kirishima!"

Realizing she had dawdled too long, Yoko leapt back to her feet. But Touya –proving he did possess his father Fujitaka's athleticism– lunged and caught her by the wrist.

"Let me go, Kinomoto!" She tried to slap him, but Touya caught her hand and held her still. Yoko struggled to shake him off. "Leave me alone, just go away! Go back to that love-smitten doll of yours, just leave me alone!"

Touya would not have any of it. Grasping the emotionally-fraught Yoko's wrists and ignoring her whimpers and what few of her angry but weak blows that did connect, he prevented her from escaping.

Aside, Sakura and Li stared at their two seniors. "At least I don't go bonking you with my staff when we disagree," a self-conscious Sakura mumbled, a huge drop of perspiration decorating her cute forehead.

The similarly marked Li solemnly agreed.

Yoko was reduced to tears. "Why don't you just leave me alone, Touya? You don't need to bother. I don't mean that much to you–"

"Will you stop that?" Touya was not happy at using an angry tone on a girl who didn't deserve it. But he knew he had to. The ounce of prevention had failed. The pound of cure was harsh but necessary. "You scolded Nakuru about being immature and selfish, but you yourself are acting very much like her right now!"

"That girl was plastering herself all over you, and you weren't making a move to stop her!"

_I was,_ Touya wanted to scream aloud. "Nakuru meant nothing to me! She deludes herself that I like her! But what she had really wanted was a part of me that never was mine to begin with. I never felt anything for her except exasperation and irritation and anger!"

"Then what about that other person," Yoko shot back, "The one you told me about eight years ago? The one whom you said was your beloved? What about **that** girl?"

Touya did not answer, and so Yoko began to weep again.

**  
**--

**  
**Inside Sakura's room, Keroberos peacefully asleep in a cushion-filled desk drawer, the former Clow Book began to glow. Out through its cover passed Hope, revealing the side bearing the image of a young girl with long hair and feathery wings upon her head. Held in her hands was a winged heart, bright red against the girl's quiet gray, the epitome of love borne in the arms of one who so needed love.

Surrounded by an aura that was its holder's strongest emotion and power, Hope shone bright.

**  
**--

**  
**Without knowing who or what prompted her, Sakura suddenly stepped forward to defend her brother's silence. "If you really want to know who _Oniichan_'s girlfriend was," she blurted out, "It was Kaho-_sensei_!"

Yoko stared. "K-Kaho-_sensei_?"

"Sakura!"

Undaunted by her brother's anger or Yoko's shock, Sakura bravely continued. "Kaho-_sensei _came here where _Oniichan_ was in junior high school. _Oniichan_ was lonely because the other kids though he was strange and kept away. Kaho-_sensei_ befriended him by showing him that they were alike. They became very close, but Kaho-_sensei_ left him in the end. _Oniichan_ was so hurt that he never wanted to get hurt like that again. That was why he kept his distance with you, even if he might have felt something for you!"

"Sakura!" Touya took a menacing step towards her. A grim Syaoran immediately protectively put himself between them. Potential brother-in-law or not, Touya would not hurt one hair on Sakura's head while Li lived.

"Kirishima-_sempai_!" Sakura persisted. "Please understand _Oniichan's_ feelings! Stop pushing him away like this! He never meant to hurt you! He doesn't want to hurt anyone the way he was hurt! That was why he was worrying about you! He cares for you!

"Please," Sakura softly finished, pleading with tears of her own. "Please, don't push him away…"

Touya was livid with rage. "I don't know how you managed to learn all that, little you monster," he growled, furious at having his private life the subject of public discourse, "But I don't care, because I am going to make you so sorry you were ever born, you little–"

Li raised his fists.

"Touya, no!" Yoko fastened herself upon Touya. "Please, don't!"

"Damn it, Yoko! This doesn't concern you!" But he did not shove her away.

"But it does!" The redhead knew she was in the wrong– and she was trying to make things right. "It does. I'm sorry, Touya. I acted selfishly and immaturely. I had no right to attack other people's faults even if they were in the wrong. I had no right to get angry the way I did. I was wrong. Sakura-chan was only trying to help you and me.

"Please, **please** forgive Sakura-chan, Touya." Yoko turned away. "If you don't want to forgive me, at least forgive your sister. She doesn't deserve your anger.

Slowly Touya cooled. "I never meant to get angry at anyone," he murmured. "I was just so badly hurt when Myzuki told me she was leaving me. I thought that she had betrayed me. That I had no one left to trust– or to love the way I did her.

"It was a fool's idea: abandoning love forever more, and though I was blinded it was no excuse. I kept to myself, because I did not want to show how much I cared for other people, especially women. Especially to you."

His arms encircled her waist. Yoko startled. "I never told you how much you had meant to me," Touya told her. "Until now."

"I… I mean something to you?"

"You were the first girl since Myzuki who went to me and told me to my face that you liked me." Admitting the truth now, however late, did not embarrass him. "I guess that made a difference."

His name played itself over Yoko's lips so softly. "Touya." Then she buried her face in his chest.

Sakura and Li Syaoran applauded, the former happy, the latter secretly amused at seeing his great archenemy succumbing at last to Cupid's arrows.

"Don't think you can get scot-free out of this, monster," Touya growled at his sister, even as he held Yoko. "I'll get back at you. Count on that."

Sakura immediately hid behind Li. "_Oniichan_!"

* * *

**  
**"I've been making a fool out of myself all these years…"

Nakuru absent-mindedly poked her spoon at her ice cream sundae. "I was such a fool, such a fool to continue thinking that I really had a chance with him."

"Aren't you going to eat your ice cream?" Yukito kindly inquired.

She set her spoon aside and pushed the ice cream away. "I don't feel like eating. In fact, I don't feel anything at all."

"That's wrong, you know. You do feel something. Even we Moon Guardians have feelings."

They were in the same ice cream parlor Eriol had treated Sakura, Tomoyo and the others a week ago. The younger Moon Guardian was in dire need of some good cheer. Nakuru's usually merry features were gloomy and lacked vigor. She absently toyed with the tawny fronds of her long hair, her thoughts lost in melancholy.

"You knew Touya didn't like your way of approaching him," Yukito advised. "The way you handled the entire situation you were playing with fire and got badly burned."

"Playing with fire, eh?" Nakuru began fiddling with her spoon again. "Guess that's apt for me. A moth attracted to a flickering flame. In love with something that could hurt me. Getting hurt in the process– but wanting more of the same pain all the more."

"You shouldn't play with your spoon."

"Why should you care if I do?"

"Well," Yukito enumerated, "First, it offends you. Second, it offends the people around you. Third, it offends the resident _kami_ of the parlor. All offended parties are not to be offended."

Nakuru shook her head. "Tsukishiro, you make one good put-down comedian. I really want to laugh at you."

"Why don't you, then?"

In a sudden fit of anger, Nakuru hurled the spoon away from her and at his smiling face.

Yukito deftly caught the missile. He gently put it back on the table with accompanying smile. His cavalier attitude only made Nakuru angrier.

"Are you looking for trouble, Tsukishiro?" she growled. "Because it looks to me like you're picking a fight with me."

"I have no intention of making trouble," he cheerfully replied. "But I must say that the other me agrees with me that we should not trouble the good folk around us right now."

"Fine." Her glower was deadly. "Just when and where do you want your body to be buried, jerk?"

"The other me wants to avoid a commotion. I agree with him. If you really wish to argue the way you want, tomorrow night at the park will do." He was smiling, as if they were just discussing a small stroll down the street, no big deal.

"I'll see you there dead and buried, Tsukishiro." Nakuru was confident once more, looking forward to beating her older sibling to a measly pulp as she should have done six years ago when she had the chance.

"I'm looking forward to it, too, Nakuru-_chan_." The endearing suffix he added to her name did the trick. After one last death glare, she left in a huff.

"I wish it could be different, Nakuru," Yukito whispered to the empty spot where his 'sister' had once sat. "I truly wish it could."

* * *

**  
Author's Note: **Happy Valentines to all my readers! (It sounds so hypocritical for a guy who has spent all the Februarys in his life without a girlfriend. Gack… --)

Also, my sincere apologies to the Touya-Yukito shippers, but I vastly prefer hetero pairings, thank you.

For those of you who may be wondering, Yoko would be that girl who confessed her love to Touya in the anime episode where they did a modified version of _Cinderella_. I have no idea what her name really is, so I went for something that sounded similar to it. If anyone can tell me, I would be eternally grateful.

On the side: Oh, my God, I've just subscribed to Nakuru-Yukito! That's technically **incest**! No! I'm going to burn in Hell! Burn!

I hope you enjoyed it!

* * *

**  
**Despite their differences in opinion– and in everything else–, they agree on something: _she_ is who matters. Next in_Violets_: **Welcome Midnight**. 


	10. Welcome Midnight

**Violets Do Blossom In Winter**

The Courtship of Daidouji Tomoyo

**  
Chapter Ten**

**  
Welcome Midnight

* * *

**

**  
**"How could you have done such a thing, Eriol?"

Mizuki Kaho was not happy. That was an odd enough occurrence in itself. But now she was angry with Eriol, which was just as surprising. Even more so was Eriol simply ignoring her every word. And perhaps the greatest surprise of a day full of them was that a certain darling angel with dark locks was the cause of all this.

Then again, today was a surprise in itself.

"You abandoned your responsibilities here. You conspired and kept secrets from us. You paid absolutely no heed whatsoever to how worried we were about you. And worst of all, you are simply sitting there with such a smug look that I am sorely tempted to wipe that look off your face by very violent means."

This was her longest harangue yet. In fact, it was a first for her. Getting Kaho-_sensei_ angry was scientifically possible. It was not something to look forward to, though.

Mizuki scowled at the handsome young man quiescently seated within the plush sofa chair. "Now: explain yourself."

With the infinite deliberation that so infuriated her, Eriol opened his eyes –all throughout her speech, he had kept them closed, as if he was dozing– and gave her a smile generously copied from Tomoyo.

"First, Mizuki, is that not for one moment have I ever discarded my responsibilities. In fact, this visit is vital to said responsibilities. Two, even before you arrived, I have been keeping secrets to myself, and I will continue to do so as I believe is needed. Three, I knew how worried you were about me. I also knew you knew where I was per Spinel and Nakuru's telepathic link to me. Finally, the reason why I am sitting here content is that this sofa is quite comfortable." He patted the arm rest quite fondly before gesturing to Mizuki in gracious invitation. "Would you like to see for yourself?"

She refused to rise up to his bait. She even stomped dead the thought of sharing the same seat with him, however attractive the offer was. "You will make a fine lawyer someday, Eriol. But now is not the time to dally around with trifling matters."

"True. Where is Nakuru-chan, if I may ask?"

Mizuki gestured with her eyes to the ceiling, referring to the room above –or more accurately, the room several floors above them. "She's up there, burying herself in calisthenics at the hotel's fitness section."

"That merits note. She's never exercised before."

**  
**Nakuru had no love for exercise. Neither did she need it. Her human form was magically-generated, eternally slim and the looks of a classy J-pop star. And she could always change her body to suit her tastes.

But inspiration sometimes sprung from sheer aggravation. A very special goal drove her balled, gloved fists into the leather punching bag. It was the image of Tsukishiro Yukito, forever with a benign smile plastered across his face.

Nothing had ever gotten Nakuru angrier as what had happened earlier. The flames of her fury burned all the more heatedly even now. A happy Yukito polluted every waking minute of her day. Asked her if she was "all right". Derived perverse amusement at her pathetic state. It never occurred to her that he might have been sincere; Nakuru simply had to have an object to focus her anger on. Yukito had all too happily volunteered to assume that role.

_Well, not for long_, the alternate self of the Moon Guardian Ruby Moon swore. In one more night –incidentally, the same night of the local prom Eriol and Tomoyo would be attending– Nakuru would finally get her chance for revenge on Yukito and his stupid 'other self', Yue. Even if not as sweet as reclaiming Touya for her possession, it would do for the moment.

"Just wait, Tsukishiro!" She relentlessly pounded the punching bag with her gloved fists as if pummeling Yukito's guts. "I'll show you just what Akizuki Nakuru is made of. Just you wait!"

The punching bag burst from her last reckless punch, spraying the startled Nakuru with sand.

**  
**"Nakuru-chan is decidedly aggravated," Eriol remarked, having briefly picked through his Moon Guardian's thoughts. "I wonder just what was it that Yue told her?"

"Don't worry about her." Mizuki's advice was rather grim. "Worry about how you are going to disentangle yourself from this mess you've created."

"I see no such mess that you refer to."

"You've bogged yourself down with so many promises and ventures that it will take weeks just to arrange all of them so that we can leave!"

Eriol smiled, as much to himself as to Mizuki. "That _was_ the idea."

His companions brought her foot down rather loudly, a sign that her temper was approaching the breaking point. "Eriol!"

"Why are you so angry, Mizuki? You've never acted like that before."

"It's because _**you** _have **_never_** acted like **_this_** **_before_**!"

"My decisions are mine to make."

"Fine." Mizuki gestured to the phone nearby. "Call her."

This snagged her a curious glance. "Call whom?"

"Stop playing games with me, Eriol. I meant Tomoyo, of course."

"Ah, yes." His smile grew as bright as his words. Both his eyes were open now and full of quiet mischief. "Our lovely violet bud approaches her moment of blossoming."

"Eriol!"

"But I thought you liked my poetry, Mizuki."

She clad herself in steel and went directly to the point. "Eriol, I want you to call her and tell her you cannot be her partner at the ball."

"I promised Tomoyo-chan that I would partner her. I cannot go back on my word."

"And now you refer to her as if she is already yours!"

This merited a small laugh. "Mizuki! Don't tell me you're jealous?"

The lightly placed accusation hit home. The woman got angrier. "I am very serious, Eriol! You must stop this at once. You play a very dangerous game with Tomoyo, one that might cost you and especially her dearly!"

Eriol coolly fixed his dark blue eyes on her. "I am not playing games with her, Mizuki." He spoke softly, but his subtle intonation told how serious he thought of the entire matter. "I have no intention to play with anyone's lives, especially not with someone I respect and care for.

"I never was the mask that I employed and you know it. My conscience is a continuous thorn at my side, reminding me of the burden I bear and the deceptions I must fulfill. Attacking Sakura so that she would change the Clow Cards into Sakura Cards; casting the spell that might have deprived her of all those whom she loves; that and many other things that are very real. All of them weigh heavily upon my heart. Those were not easy decisions to make or even contemplate. They went against the core of my very being.

"Please do not accuse me of playing games with Daidouji Tomoyo." Those spectacles glinted in the faint light of the fireplace. "I am not playing games with her."

The two exchanged stares, Mizuki firm in her aspects, Eriol calmly decided.

A muffled cry interrupted their dialogue. Suppi was tasked with taking care of an important package. And he was not in a very enviable nor comfortable position.

"Ow! Ouch! Argh!" The diminutive ebon Sun Guardian squeaked. "Let go of me, vile beast! Ugh! I've been slimed! Help! Master Eriol! Sensei!"

Despite their just-concluded argument, Mizuki actually began to chuckle while Eriol smiled at his 'minion'. "I think she likes you, Suppi," the former volunteered. "_Nee, _Eriol?"

"How will I ever be able to get her away from Suppi, I profess no knowledge whatsoever. Perhaps I should include him as well."

"Master Eriol!" Then: "Waah!"

* * *

**  
**Tomoyo found the Kinomoto residence in a festive mood. Sakura was there to greet her at the entrance with Li and Touya in tow, plus the newest addition to the Kinomoto family.

"Kawaii!" Tomoyo held up the puppy, a cute white Akita, and giggled. "She's yours, Sakura-chan?"

"Yes."

"His name is Kero-chan," cheerfully offered the visiting Kirishima Yoko. "It's short for Keroberos. I was going to call him To-Ya," here Touya's face kind of twisted into a mixture of a grimace and a grin, "but Sakura-chan here pleaded her case severely, so I gave in and renamed him."

"He's so cute and cuddly! I'm beginning to wish I also have a pet puppy." As Tomoyo cuddled him, Kero-chan vigorously licked her face. "Oh, he likes me!"

Yoko put her hands on her slim waist, up to the challenge. "I can get you a puppy as well, if you want. What particular breed would you want?"

"Well, none in particular. I do want," confided a smiling Tomoyo, her thick dark lavender mane rippling in the afternoon light, "Is the cutest, happiest, most delightful puppy in the world!"

"Would the young lady be interested in just the right thing?'

Still holding the squirming Kero-chan, Tomoyo swiftly spun around to greet the new arrival with a big smile. "Eriol-kun!"

He returned her smile with a honest one of her own. "Good afternoon, Tomoyo. Good afternoon to you, Sakura, and to you, too, Kirishima-sempai" Eriol added for Yoko's benefit, then: "And a pleasant day to you as well, my dearest cousin."

Li grimaced. "That's a new trend, Hiiragizawa: informally addressing people by their first names."

"I endeavor to accommodate my friends and relatives."

"What's in there?" Sakura was eyeing the box in Eriol's arms.

"Ah, yes." He flipped its top open. A furry black face popped out.

"Kawaii!" squealed all the girls. Kero-chan yapped at the newcomer and was greeted likewise.

"Who is she for?" Tomoyo asked.

"I originally intended her for Sakura, so that if the others came around visiting, they'd really meet a Kero-chan. But I see that Kirishima-sempai had beaten me to it." Eriol smiled his charming smile. "And it was **your** birthday yesterday. Would you like to have her as my belated gift for you?"

"Can I really have her, Eriol?"

It was a rhetorical question. The new puppy quickly found a new home with Tomoyo, Kero-chan having been first returned to his owner.

"It looks like a Labrador," offered Yoko. "And it's in great health, too."

"What are you going to name her?" Sakura asked.

A pensive expression found its way on Tomoyo's face, one that had Eriol taking notice. "Well, she's a girl puppy and has fur black as the moonless midnight. So I'll name her Midnight!"

"A lovely name," Eriol smiled.

Nodding enthusiastically, Tomoyo then noticed the limp form hanging in Midnight's furry jaw. "Hey, Eriol, isn't this–"

Only at the last moment did she catch Sakura and Li's warning looks. Her friends had also recognized the black bundle that her new pet comfortably chewed.

"Poor thing!" Yoko murmured, seeing the wreck that had been a diminutive black lion with cute wings. "Eriol, you shouldn't really let Midnight play with toys like that. She might choke on them or swallow fur."

"Midnight insisted on bringing him along," Eriol explained with a flourish and a grin to his friends, even as the puppy happily munched upon the poor critter. "I could not find it within myself to part such a loving couple."

Firmly clamped in Midnight's furry muzzle, Suppi moaned very inaudibly.

**  
**Clothes make the man. Gowns make the girl. They also make the man speechless. Next in _Violets_: **Wiles Of The Fairer Sex**


	11. Wiles Of The Fair Sex

**TheViolets Do Blossom In Winter**

**The Courtship of Daidouji Tomoyo**

**  
****A Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction**

**  
**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**  
Chapter Ten**

**Wiles Of The Fair Sex**

**  
**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**  
**Keroberos was hugely amused at his rival's disaster. Not for one moment did Sakura's Sun Guardian pause in hammering away at Spinel with snide remarks about milk teeth and puppy slobber and hair balls.

"Oh, leave me alone!" Suppi fairly howled, trying to drown his humiliation in the cleansing suds of a wash basin.

Downstairs in the living room, Yoko, a grumpy Touya, and family patriarch Fujitaka entertained Eriol and Li. Sakura and Tomoyo were in Sakura's bedroom, doing something so important that no one else –especially the boys– should see it.

"Those two are up to something." Despite his grumpiness, Syaoran gratefully accepted the cheesecake slice Yoko offered him. "Anyone can see it from a mile away. They were smiling the same clever way you do, Hiiragizawa. Then there was that large box Daidouji had with her! It's a conspiracy, I'm sure of it!"

Eriol smiled at his perturbed relation. "Dear cousin, let not the wiles of the fair sex overly trouble you. After all of this has come to pass, you will see the wisdom in this and be a better man for it."

"What does that mean in plain English?"

"Wait and see."

Li contented himself with pretending Eriol was the cake he vigorously chopped with a knife.

"Sakura's always like that, kid," Touya interposed with a hint of malice. "Why don't you just give up on her and go find yourself someone else who'd suit you?"

The remark earned him a dagger-eye glare as Syaoran seriously contemplated toasting this detestable future-in-law with a Kashin Shourai.

"To-Ya!" Yoko nudged her boyfriend. "Quit teasing Li-_kun_ about Sakura-_chan_!"

Tomoyo's call of "We're ready" drifted down the stairs.

"Finally..." Li folded his arms in front of him and assumed an excessively disinterested pose. Beside him, Eriol merely tipped his glasses back up his nose and waited, as did Fujitaka, dour Touya, and amused Yoko.

Down came the winsomely smiling Tomoyo. Her cause of delight followed half a dozen steps behind.

Gracefully tentative, an angel descending into the mortal realm, Kinomoto Sakura came to face her friends and family.

Simply put, she stunned everyone. Her short mane was restyled into an angelic halo of delicate auburn lightly held in place by beautiful ruby clips. The slight dab of ruby red lipstick and facial powder enhanced her naturally pretty features and giving her a glowing aura of noble kindness.

Her gown was the indisputable proof that Tomoyo did have excellent taste in costume design. The white masterpiece was a soft length of milky cotton, pure and effortlessly flowing. Graceful sashes of light blue and expert sewing melded it to Sakura's petite figure. It moved with her as she approached her admiring audience, the long skirt swaying, the lacy hem just barely refraining from kissing the floor, giving her the appearance of a shimmering mirage: beautiful, desirable, ephemeral.

In fact, the only thing marring the entire show– and not by much– was Sakura's face colored up like a crimson neon sign.

"What do you think?" she bashfully asked.

Her father beamed. "You look lovely, dear." _In fact,_ Fujitaka wisely kept to himself– not that his daughter or his object of comparison would mind–, _you remind me of your Aunt Sonomi back during that ball in high school…_

"Not too shabby," grudgingly admitted Touya. That was high praise for him, but not for Yoko. At her nudging, he added, "Rather nice, too– for a monster…"

Sakura was too nervously focused on her fiancé to retaliate. "Li-_kun_?"

The slack-jawed Syaoran stared so hard at her that Sakura feared his eyes might pop out of their sockets or his jaw fall off. Nevertheless, with an almighty effort of his renowned iron will, he forced his gaping cavern of his mouth to mumble a single word of praise, the best one he could think of in a daze:

"Wow."

Sakura exuberantly pumped her hand into the air. "Yatta!"

"Your greatest triumph yet, eh, Tomoyo?" Eriol congratulated the understandably proud self-appointed fashion designer.

"Of course…"

"Maybe Daidouji has something to show us as well, kid," Touya snickered. "What do you say, Hime-sama?"

No one –even Eriol– expected Tomoyo to be so startled and affected by the inquiry. "Oh!" exclaimed the girl, "I was so intent on making the best gown for Sakura-_chan_, I totally forgot about what **I** was going to wear tonight!"

Sakura's grimace somehow failed to spoil her darling look.

Eriol burst into low-key laughter. He held a hand up to his mouth in a faint effort to control his amusement while his other hand waved silent excuses.

Tomoyo blushed and raised a hand as if to swat at him. "Eriol!"

"Pardon me, Tomoyo," the blue-haired youth managed between laughs. "It's just that you reminded me of a friend I knew long ago. She was such a serious sort, but she always kept forgetting an important issue at the last moment. We always had to postpone our business until she could finish her dues."

Curiosity replaced embarrassment. "Whom do you mean by that, Eriol?"

"It's a secret." He smiled.

"Well, at least we now know what an evil sorcerer sounds like when he laughs," commented Touya.

Yoko elbowed him.

**  
**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**  
**"Oh, no, no, no! None of these will do!"

Eriol offered to accompany her back home; the Daidouji residence was on the way to his hotel lodging. "Come back at eight o'clock!" Tomoyo bid him as they parted.

"I will."

She left Midnight to her bodyguards. The Women In Black were unusually nonplussed by this latest duty. Plus, one of them seemed to be allergic to dog fur.

Three hours was just not enough. She dared not linger for too long in the comfortable warmth of her bath tub, and spent the whole time thinking of possible combinations of clothing that would look formal, nice and (most important) not steal the spotlight from Sakura. Half an hour later found Tomoyo in her pajamas, brushing her hair and racking her brain like mad. She was sure of one item she would wear, and she wanted to wear it no matter what the rest of her clothes were.

But of course her other clothing had to match it. They just had to.

Thirty minutes of rummaging through her considerable dresser –every quarter of the year, her mother would take her out to shop at classy fashion outlets– had produced nothing.

Nothing, that is, that could complement the scarf she so desired to wear.

Not just for once, Tomoyo was being rather irrational.

"Is my little fashion designer having trouble with clothes?"

Daidouji Sonomi walked into her startled daughter's room. "I guess I'd be hard put to find something fir for that scarf," she told Tomoyo. "It _is_ a nice scarf, after all. And we certainly don't want to disappoint Eriol and Kaho-_sensei._"

Blushing at being caught in trouble, Tomoyo hid the scarf behind her. Around her, though, were enough gowns and blouses and skirts to put her away for life.

Sonomi smiled endearingly. "Tomoyo. Come with me, will you?"

Puzzled, Tomoyo followed her mother into the master bedroom, Sonomi's hitherto private abode. Sonomi unlatched an elegant oaken closet. She stepped aside to let Tomoyo see her treasure.

Tomoyo gasped.

"This gown was the one I wore to my own junior prom." Pride and wistfulness mixed themselves well within Sonomi's throat. "I remember that memory quite clearly; oh, it was such a lovely evening." She grimaced. "That is, until I found out that worthless schemer Kinimoto was the one who escorted my dearest Nadeshiko that night. Oh, that conniving scoundrel! I can never forgive him for taking advantage of my sweet wisteria blossom!"

Tomoyo suppressed a grin as her mother lost herself in expounding upon "that evil man Kinimoto's malevolent designs" upon her cousin Nadeshiko. Sonomi then realized she was declaiming again, ground the bad memory under a mental heel, and went on.

"Anyway, I met the man who would be your father at the same prom. He was Fujitaka's student, his star pupil– but from a different class than ours. I will not call it love at first sight, I'd tell you this. I hated him almost as much as I hated Fujitaka because he was helping his mentor win Nadeshiko's heart and foiling my attempts to separate them. But after Nadeshiko married Fujitaka, that young man suddenly became very nice to me.

"Of course, I first hated him. But I gradually came to like him as well. And he liked me as well. It was nice, having someone who liked me.

Sonomi was lost deep within her reminisce now, alive once more in a world she thought had departed her decades past. "Even now, I still love him, just as Fujitaka loves Nadeshiko. Love is eternal. It is not limited by space or time or the world and everything in it. It is forever. As long as it lasts, so will the people who feel it. As long as two people are in love, they will always be together."

**  
**_As long as two people are in love… t__hey will always be together…_

**  
**Sonomi carefully placed the gown in her daughter's hands. "Tomoyo. Take heart whatever happens to you. Wear this gown, as I wore it in the past. Let destiny decide if you will find your love come to you this night, or on any other night. Remember, you will find someone to love you, as I did. No matter how long, or how hard, in the end, you will find him."

Never had her mother been so emotional. _There was a first time for everyone,_ Tomoyo decided, _a__s there would always be a time for love._

She accepted the delicate silks her mother entrusted her with great care. "I will, Mama," she promised.

Sonomi smiled. She thought lovingly of a handsome face, a comforting presence unseen and unheard but felt very clearly. O_nly now have I noticed that our daughter has grown up into a wonderful young woman, just like my dearest cousin Nadeshiko. I pray that you watch over her this night, both you and Nadeshiko, wherever you may be. _

_And… and I will always love you and Tomoyo, until the end and beyond…_

**  
**Perhaps there was a faint shimmer of light outside the window, as if a faint figure in white passed by, visible just for one moment. Tomoyo barely spotted, her attention called by that tiny flicker of white. And then it was gone with nothing to mark its passing.

Nothing, that is, but a single white feather, lying on the floor.

**  
To Be Continued**

**  
**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**  
**Fifteen minutes of fame for the eternal camera girl to finally stand in the spotlight.

Next in_ Violets_:** A Match Made In Heaven**.


End file.
